preclude
[ pri-klood ]
/ prɪˈklud /
verb (used with object), pre·clud·ed, pre·clud·ing.
to prevent the presence, existence, or occurrence of; make impossible: The insufficiency of the evidence precludes a conviction.
to exclude or debar from something: His physical disability precludes an athletic career for him.
RELATED CONTENT
New law bans use of confusing words and sentences in government documents. Read the resultsOn October 13, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “United States Plain Writing Act of 2010.” Thirteen years after President Clinton issued his own “Plain Writing in Government” memorandum, the revised set of guidelines states that by July of this year all government agencies must simplify the often perplexing bureaucratic jargon used in documents produced for the American public. Gone are the grammatically longwinded sentences, …
RELATED WORDS
hinder, prevent, avert, prohibit, forestall, cease, deter, impede, exclude, obviate, quit, debar, discontinue, stop, restrain, interrupt, ward, check, forfend
Nearby words
- precision casting,
- precisionism,
- precisive,
- preclimax,
- preclinical,
- preclusion,
- preclusive,
- preclusively,
- precocial,
- precocious
Origin of preclude
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for preclude
preclude
/ (prɪˈkluːd) /
verb (tr)
to exclude or debar
to make impossible, esp beforehand
Word Origin for preclude
C17: from Latin praeclūdere to shut up, from prae in front, before + claudere to close
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
preclude
1610s, from Latin praecludere "to close, shut off; hinder, impede," from prae- "before, ahead" (see pre-) + claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)). Related: Precluded; precluding.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper