prevent
[pri-vent]
- 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.
Show More
- to interpose a hindrance: He will come if nothing prevents.
Show More
Origin of prevent
Synonyms
See more synonyms for prevent on Thesaurus.com1. obstruct, forestall, preclude, obviate, thwart.
Synonym study
1. Prevent, hamper, hinder, impede refer to different degrees of stoppage of action or progress. To prevent is to stop something effectually by forestalling action and rendering it impossible: to prevent the sending of a message. To hamper is to clog or entangle or put an embarrassing restraint upon: to hamper preparations for a trip. To hinder is to keep back by delaying or stopping progress or action: to hinder the progress of an expedition. To impede is to make difficult the movement or progress of anything by interfering with its proper functioning: to impede a discussion by demanding repeated explanations.
Antonyms
1. help, assist.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for preventable
Contemporary Examples
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
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
Show More
Word Origin
C15: from Latin praevenīre, from prae before + venīre to come
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
Word Origin and History for preventable
prevent
v.
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper