prevent


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pre·vent

 (prĭ-vĕnt′)
v. pre·vent·ed, pre·vent·ing, pre·vents
v.tr.
1. To keep from happening; avert: took steps to prevent the strike.
2. To keep (a person or thing) from doing something; impede: prevented us from winning; prevented the disease from spreading.
3. Archaic
a. To anticipate or counter in advance.
b. To come before; precede.
v.intr.
To present an obstacle: There will be a picnic if nothing prevents.

[Middle English preventen, to anticipate, from Latin praevenīre, praevent- : prae-, pre- + venīre, to come; see gwā- in Indo-European roots.]

pre·vent′a·bil′i·ty, pre·vent′i·bil′i·ty n.
pre·vent′a·ble, pre·vent′i·ble adj.
pre·vent′er n.
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: "Some contemporaries believed that capitalism and the rise of an international economy would prevent war among 'civilized' states" (John Howard Morrow).
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).
Avert and obviate imply that something, such as a difficulty or necessity, has been removed or avoided: The pilot's quick thinking averted an accident. The short duration of the journey obviated the need for large food supplies. Forestall usually suggests anticipatory measures taken to counteract, neutralize, or nullify the effects of something: We installed an alarm system to forestall break-ins.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

prevent

(prɪˈvɛnt)
vb
1. (tr) to keep from happening, esp by taking precautionary action
2. (often foll by: from) to keep (someone from doing something); hinder; impede
3. (intr) to interpose or act as a hindrance
4. (tr) archaic to anticipate or precede
[C15: from Latin praevenīre, from prae before + venīre to come]
preˈventable, preˈventible adj
preˌventaˈbility, preˌventiˈbility n
preˈventably, preˈventibly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pre•vent

(prɪˈvɛnt)

v.t.
1. to keep from occurring; stop: to prevent illness.
2. to stop from doing something: There is nothing to prevent us from going.
3. Archaic.
a. to act ahead of; forestall.
b. to precede.
c. to anticipate.
v.i.
4. to interpose a hindrance: We will come if nothing prevents.
[1375–1425; < Latin praeventus, past participle of praevenīre to anticipate =prae- pre- + venīre to come]
pre•vent′a•ble, pre•vent′i•ble, adj.
pre•vent`a•bil′ty, n.
pre•vent′er, n.
syn: 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.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

prevent

protect
1. 'prevent'

If someone or something prevents you from doing something, they do not allow you to do it.

My only idea was to prevent him from speaking.
Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face.
2. 'protect'

You do not use 'prevent' to say that something keeps you safe from something unpleasant or harmful. The word you use is protect.

Babies are protected against diseases like measles by their mother's milk.
She had his umbrella to protect her from the rain.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

prevent


Past participle: prevented
Gerund: preventing

Imperative
prevent
prevent
Present
I prevent
you prevent
he/she/it prevents
we prevent
you prevent
they prevent
Preterite
I prevented
you prevented
he/she/it prevented
we prevented
you prevented
they prevented
Present Continuous
I am preventing
you are preventing
he/she/it is preventing
we are preventing
you are preventing
they are preventing
Present Perfect
I have prevented
you have prevented
he/she/it has prevented
we have prevented
you have prevented
they have prevented
Past Continuous
I was preventing
you were preventing
he/she/it was preventing
we were preventing
you were preventing
they were preventing
Past Perfect
I had prevented
you had prevented
he/she/it had prevented
we had prevented
you had prevented
they had prevented
Future
I will prevent
you will prevent
he/she/it will prevent
we will prevent
you will prevent
they will prevent
Future Perfect
I will have prevented
you will have prevented
he/she/it will have prevented
we will have prevented
you will have prevented
they will have prevented
Future Continuous
I will be preventing
you will be preventing
he/she/it will be preventing
we will be preventing
you will be preventing
they will be preventing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been preventing
you have been preventing
he/she/it has been preventing
we have been preventing
you have been preventing
they have been preventing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been preventing
you will have been preventing
he/she/it will have been preventing
we will have been preventing
you will have been preventing
they will have been preventing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been preventing
you had been preventing
he/she/it had been preventing
we had been preventing
you had been preventing
they had been preventing
Conditional
I would prevent
you would prevent
he/she/it would prevent
we would prevent
you would prevent
they would prevent
Past Conditional
I would have prevented
you would have prevented
he/she/it would have prevented
we would have prevented
you would have prevented
they would have prevented
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.prevent - keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"
make unnecessary, save - make unnecessary an expenditure or effort; "This will save money"; "I'll save you the trouble"; "This will save you a lot of time"
deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, avert, stave off, ward off, avoid, debar, obviate - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike"
blockade, obstruct, stymie, stymy, embarrass, hinder, block - hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of; "His brother blocked him at every turn"
frustrate, scotch, thwart, foil, baffle, bilk, cross, spoil - hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; "What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge"; "foil your opponent"
kibosh, stop, block, halt - stop from happening or developing; "Block his election"; "Halt the process"
2.prevent - stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state; "We must prevent the cancer from spreading"; "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"
defend - be on the defensive; act against an attack
keep - hold and prevent from leaving; "The student was kept after school"
keep out, shut out, exclude, shut - prevent from entering; shut out; "The trees were shutting out all sunlight"; "This policy excludes people who have a criminal record from entering the country"
hold - keep from departing; "Hold the taxi"; "Hold the horse"
keep away - prevent from coming close; "I tried to keep the child away from the pool"
blank - keep the opposing (baseball) team from winning
hinder, impede - be a hindrance or obstacle to; "She is impeding the progress of our project"
rain out, wash out - prevent or interrupt due to rain; "The storm had washed out the game"
allow, let, permit - make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen; "This permits the water to rush in"; "This sealed door won't allow the water come into the basement"; "This will permit the rain to run off"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

prevent

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

prevent

verb
To prohibit from occurring by advance planning or action:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
zabránit
forhindre
ennetama
estääehkäistä
spriječiti
megakadályozmeggátol
hindra
防ぐ
예방하다
apsaugojimaskelio užkirtimasprevencijaprevencinisprofilaktinis
aizkavētatturētnovērst
preprečiti
förhindra
ป้องกัน
ngăn ngừa

prevent

[prɪˈvent] VT
1. (= avert) (by taking precautions) [+ accident, disaster, death, war, pregnancy] → prevenir, evitar; [+ illness] → prevenir
we want to prevent a recurrence of yesterday's violencequeremos evitar que la violencia desplegada ayer se repitaqueremos prevenir or evitar una repetición de la violencia desplegada ayer
2. (= impede, put a stop to) [+ crime, corruption] → impedir; [+ attempt] → prevenir, impedir
installations to prevent any attempt to escapeinstalaciones fpl para prevenir or impedir cualquier intento de huida
bodyguards prevented his attempt to shoot the presidentunos guardaespaldas hicieron fracasar su intento de disparar al presidente
to prevent the spread of AIDS/nuclear weaponsimpedir la propagación del SIDA/la proliferación de las armas nucleares
to prevent sb (from) doing sth; prevent sb's doing sthimpedir que algn haga algo
I can't prevent him (from) leaving the country; I can't prevent his leaving the countryno puedo impedir que se vaya del país
don't let this prevent you from goingno dejes que esto te impida ir
she bit her lip to prevent herself from crying outse mordió el labio para no gritar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

prevent

[prɪˈvɛnt] vt [+ war, wastage, fires] → empêcher; [+ disease, pregnancy] → prévenir; [+ deaths, accidents] → prévenir
Exercise helps prevent heart disease → L'exercice aide à prévenir les maladies cardiaques.
to be prevented [death, accident] → être évité
Many accidents could be prevented if motorists would slow down → De nombreux accidents pourraient être évités si les automobilistes ralentissaient.
The deaths could have been prevented if the house had been fitted with a smoke alarm → Les morts auraient pu être évitées si la maison avait été équipée d'un détecteur de fumée.
to prevent sb from doing sth → empêcher qn de faire qch
Only rain can prevent us from winning → Seule la pluie peut nous empêcher de gagner.
to prevent sb doing sth → empêcher qn de faire qch
to prevent sth from happening [+ accident, disaster] → empêcher que qch ne se produise, empêcher que qch se produise
to prevent sth happening [+ accident, disaster] → empêcher que qch ne se produise, empêcher que qch se produise; [+ possibility] → empêcher que qch se réalise, empêcher que qch ne se réalise
We recognized the possibility and took steps to prevent it happening → Nous avons pris acte de cette possibilité et pris des mesures pour empêcher qu'elle se réalise.
to prevent sth doing sth → empêcher qch de faire qch
Further treatment will prevent cancer from developing → La poursuite du traitement empêchera le cancer de se développer.
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

prevent

vt sthverhindern, verhüten; (through preventive measures) → vorbeugen (+dat); to prevent somebody (from) doing somethingjdn daran hindern or davon abhalten, etw zu tun; the gate is there to prevent them from falling down the stairsdas Gitter ist dazu da, dass sie nicht die Treppe hinunterfallen; to prevent somebody from comingjdn am Kommen hindern; there is nothing to prevent menichts kann mich daran hindern or davon abhalten; to prevent something (from) happeningverhindern, dass etw geschieht
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

prevent

[prɪˈvɛnt] vt (crime, accidents, fire) → prevenire
to prevent sb/sth (from doing sth) → impedire a qn/qc (di fare qc)
to prevent sb's doing sth (frm) → impedire che qn faccia qc
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

prevent

(priˈvent) verb
to stop (someone doing something or something happening). He prevented me from going.
preˈvention (-ʃən) noun
the act of preventing. a society for the prevention of road accidents.
preˈventive (-tiv) adjective
that helps to prevent illness etc. preventive medicine.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

prevent

يـَمْنَع zabránit forhindre verhindern προλαμβάνω impedir estää empêcher spriječiti impedire 防ぐ 예방하다 voorkomen hindre zapobiec prevenir предотвращать förhindra ป้องกัน önlemek ngăn ngừa 预防
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

prevent

v. prevenir, precaver, evitar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

prevent

vt (disease, etc.) prevenir, evitar; to prevent cavities..prevenir (evitar) la caries
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
To be sure when we consider that I DID take some pains to prevent my brother-in-law's marrying her, this want of cordiality is not very surprizing, and yet it shows an illiberal and vindictive spirit to resent a project which influenced me six years ago, and which never succeeded at last.
When Agamemnon and his followers were sailing away, the ghost of Achilles appeared and tried to prevent them by foretelling what should befall them.
The physician dined that day at Mr Allworthy's; and having after dinner visited his patient, he returned to the company, and told them, that he had now the satisfaction to say, with assurance, that his patient was out of all danger: that he had brought his fever to a perfect intermission, and doubted not by throwing in the bark to prevent its return.
It is also ridiculous to prevent this intercourse between the nearest relations, for no other reason than the violence of the pleasure, while they think that the relation of father and daughter, the brother and sister, is of no consequence at all.
But because I have essayed to expound the chief of these discoveries in a treatise which certain considerations prevent me from publishing, I cannot make the results known more conveniently than by here giving a summary of the contents of this treatise.
The view generally entertained by naturalists is that species, when intercrossed, have been specially endowed with the quality of sterility, in order to prevent the confusion of all organic forms.
Those who were called skillful leaders of old knew how to drive a wedge between the enemy's front and rear; to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions; to hinder the good troops from rescuing the bad, the officers from rallying their men.
Why can I not, on the contrary, say ill enough of her to prevent your going to her?"
Bennet was rather a man of science than a man of war, which did not, however, prevent his vessel from carrying four carronades, that had never hurt any body, to be sure, but had performed the most pacific duty in the world.
For, if the town intended to be destroyed should have in it any tall rocks, as it generally falls out in the larger cities, a situation probably chosen at first with a view to prevent such a catastrophe; or if it abound in high spires, or pillars of stone, a sudden fall might endanger the bottom or under surface of the island, which, although it consist, as I have said, of one entire adamant, two hundred yards thick, might happen to crack by too great a shock, or burst by approaching too near the fires from the houses below, as the backs, both of iron and stone, will often do in our chimneys.
She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no one else was brought, and, to prevent its ever happening again, took care to inform him at first that it was a favourite haunt of hers.
He knew that Vronsky could not be prevented from amusing himself with painting; he knew that he and all dilettanti had a perfect right to paint what they liked, but it was distasteful to him.