preventer

American  

[pri-ven-ter] / prɪˈvɛn tər /

noun

• preventers
  plural

1. a person or thing that prevents.

2. Nautical.

   1. any of various lines set up to reinforce or relieve ordinary running or standing rigging.

   2. a line for preventing a sail from jibbing.

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preventer British  

/ prɪˈvɛntə /

noun

1. a person or thing that prevents

2. nautical a rope or other piece of gear rigged to prevent a sail from gybing

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• preventers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of preventer

First recorded in 1580–90; prevent + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

preventer preventers

A diligent plumber will also calculate the pressure loss from the height of the bathroom above the water meter, the pressure loss through the water meter, a backflow preventer and any other pressure regulators.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2024

For much of that summer, many Americans were transfixed by an online “spill cam” that broadcast live images of the crude oil billowing out from the broken blowout preventer.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 19, 2020

The blowout preventer was supposed to be the last-ditch defense against high-pressure gas and oil bursting out of the well.

From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2016

A blowout preventer, which hadn’t been serviced for nine years, failed to close.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2016

The decree laid down that “the seller of a licence to teach or preventer of a fit person from teaching is to be deprived of his benefice.”

From Education in England in the Middle Ages Thesis Approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science in the University of London by Albert William Parry

Another would require blowout preventers — the equipment that failed in 2010 — to always be able to handle the well’s maximum gas flow specifications.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 12, 2022

Much of the discussion centers on rules intended to keep wells under control, such as requirements for blowout preventers that failed in the spill.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 18, 2020

But Sunday’s press conference shows that, through flattery and fear, he can be prevented from preventing the actual preventers from doing prevention.

From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2020

The new rule, which took effect in July 2016, required additional inspections of devices called blowout preventers, the equipment that failed during the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2018

I ordered additional preventers to be rove, had the hatches battened down, and took every possible precaution to ensure the safety of my vessel.

From A Lad of Grit A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman