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
Synonyms for prevent
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms for prevent
Related Words for preventable
avoidable, escapable, stoppable, curable, correctable, mendable, restorableExamples from the Web for preventable
Contemporary Examples of preventable
Infectious diseases are (a) infectious and (b) preventable with a simple shot.
Tragically, as we deliberate, another day of preventable carnage will come and go.
Overdose deaths have now become the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
The U.S. should do no less to prevent escalation into a preventable protracted war.
The most preventable cause of death—smoking—has plummeted among Americans in recent years.
Historical Examples of preventable
Fortunately, however, this is an accident that is as preventable as it is common.
A Handbook of HealthWoods Hutchinson
The disease is preventable, and will probably be stamped out in time.
There is still poverty in Western Europe, but it is preventable poverty.
Progress and HistoryVarious
Many diseases and much sickness are preventable that are not communicable.
Civics and HealthWilliam H. Allen
Adenoids and defective vision are preventable, but not contagious.
Civics and HealthWilliam H. Allen
prevent
- (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
Word Origin for prevent
Word Origin and History for preventable
prevent
early 15c., "act in anticipation of," from Latin praeventus, past participle of praevenire "come before, anticipate, hinder," in Late Latin also "to prevent," from prae "before" (see pre-) + venire "to come" (see venue). Originally literal; sense of "anticipate to hinder" was in Latin, but not recorded in English until 1540s.