pre·vent
(prĭ-vĕnt́)
[Middle English preventen, to anticipate, from Latin praevenīre, praevent-, prae-, pre-, + venīre, to come.]
verb: -vent·ed, -vent·ing, -vents.
transitive verb
- To keep from happening: took steps to prevent the strike.
- To keep (someone) from doing something; impede: prevented us from winning.
- Archaic To anticipate or counter in advance.
- Archaic To come before; precede.
intransitive verb
- To present an obstacle: There will be a picnic if nothing prevents.
derivatives
- pre·vent́a·biĺi·ty
- noun
- pre·vent́a·ble
- adjective
- pre·vent́er
- noun
synonyms:
prevent, preclude, avert, obviate, forestall These verbs mean to stop or hinder something from happening, especially by advance planning or action. Prevent implies anticipatory counteraction: “The surest way to prevent war is not to fear it” (John Randolph) To preclude is to exclude the possibility of an event or action: “a tranquillity which . . . his wife's presence would have precluded” (John Henry Newman) To avert is to ward off something about to happen: The pilot's quick thinking averted an accident. Obviate implies that something, such as a difficulty, has been anticipated and disposed of effectively: “the objections . . . having . . . been obviated in the preceding chapter” (Joseph Butler) Forestall usually suggests anticipatory measures taken to counteract, neutralize, or nullify the effects of something: We installed an alarm system to forestall break-ins.
