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

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Etymology

Origin of preventer

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

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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

There was no time for talk, for orders were given for getting preventer stays on the foremast.

From For Name and Fame Or Through Afghan Passes by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

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

The 2016 rule required companies to test the blowout preventers every 14 days.

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

We hear of kill lines, blowout preventers, negative pressure tests, and something called the bladder effect, which I would rather not know about.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 30, 2016

He had made the men lash the topmast and topgallant-mast to the fragment left of the original spar, securing it with back-stays and preventers on the port and starboard sides before getting up the shrouds.

From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by J. Schonberg

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