prevent
to keep from occurring; avert; hinder: He intervened to prevent bloodshed.
to hinder or stop from doing something: There is nothing to prevent us from going.
Archaic. to act ahead of; forestall.
Archaic. to precede.
Archaic. to anticipate.
to interpose a hindrance: He will come if nothing prevents.
Origin of prevent
1synonym study For prevent
Other words for prevent
Opposites for prevent
Other words from prevent
- pre·vent·a·ble, pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
- pre·vent·a·bil·ty, noun
- pre·vent·ing·ly, adverb
- non·pre·vent·a·ble, adjective
- non·pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
- qua·si-pre·vent·ed, adjective
- un·pre·vent·a·ble, adjective
- un·pre·vent·ed, adjective
- un·pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
Words Nearby prevent
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use prevent in a sentence
Wilson and his team of auditors wanted to figure out whether Pymetrics’s anti-bias mechanism does in fact prevent bias and whether it can be fooled.
Auditors are testing hiring algorithms for bias, but there’s no easy fix | Amy Nordrum | February 11, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewThe second is improving the fit of a single surgical mask by knotting the ear loops and tucking in the sides close to the face to prevent air from leaking out around the edges and to form a closer fit.
Masks should fit better or be doubled up to protect against coronavirus variants, CDC says | Lena H. Sun, Fenit Nirappil | February 11, 2021 | Washington PostPowell noted that nearly 5 million people said the pandemic prevented them from looking for work in January.
Fed chair: Unemployment rate was closer to 10 percent, not 6.3 percent, in January | Rachel Siegel | February 10, 2021 | Washington PostHis attorney also said that Caldwell has disabilities from his military service that would have prevented him from storming the Capitol.
The feds say he’s an extremist leader who directed rioters. He also had top-secret clearance and worked for the FBI, attorney says. | Katie Shepherd | February 9, 2021 | Washington PostBut, unfortunately, with the benefit of hindsight, there’s so many ways that I’ve thought, Oh, wow, I could have prevented violence.
prevent disordered eating, then, and you can prevent eating disorders.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models | Carrie Arnold | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIf we want to prevent others from your fate, we need to stop being so passive on these issues.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen | Parker Molloy | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTOverbearing regulations prevent people from doing their jobs.
In 1956, Balenciaga and Givenchy banned the press from viewing their collections for a month to prevent counterfeiting.
The NRA opposed a new California law that will help prevent gun deaths, homicides and suicides both.
The exertions of the city authorities, who had notice of the meditated riot, were unable to prevent or quell it.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellTo prevent intruders or extruders from withdrawing his mind from the text, he exercises the Inhibitory function of the Attention.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)This may be called the first day of the revolution, although the object of the meeting was to prevent such a catastrophe.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellTom held to his strange belief to 'Let it all come,' he would not try to prevent; he would neither shirk nor dodge.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodHe used every artifice to prevent a collision between the French and Neapolitan troops.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
British Dictionary definitions for prevent
/ (prɪˈvɛnt) /
(tr) to keep from happening, esp by taking precautionary action
(tr often foll by from) to keep (someone from doing something); hinder; impede
(intr) to interpose or act as a hindrance
(tr) archaic to anticipate or precede
Origin of prevent
1Derived forms of prevent
- preventable or preventible, adjective
- preventability or preventibility, noun
- preventably or preventibly, adverb
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
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