preclude
Americanverb
-
to exclude or debar
-
to make impossible, esp beforehand
Other Word Forms
- precludable adjective
- preclusion noun
- preclusive adjective
- preclusively adverb
- unprecludable adjective
- unpreclusive adjective
- unpreclusively adverb
Etymology
Origin of preclude
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin praeclūdere “to shut off, close,” equivalent to prae- pre- + -clūdere, combining form of claudere “to shut, close ”
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It also isn’t clear that the Donroe Doctrine precludes interventions outside the Western Hemisphere.
"But enjoyment does not preclude critique. And what the show reveals is that gay storytelling today is limited not so much by social acceptance as by the narrow stories it keeps repeating."
From BBC
David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said that the federal prosecution of a man accused of starting the earlier blaze does not preclude the department from discussing its actions surrounding both fires.
From Los Angeles Times
Under the provisions of the 1998 Northern Ireland Act, regulations governing the flag had become "a transferred prerogative matter", precluding Her Majesty's "command on flags … having any legal effect in Northern Ireland".
From BBC
The secrecy precluded a medal of honor without a waiver from Congress.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
