prevent

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.

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

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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

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	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" foreclose, forestall, preclude, forbid 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" keep 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

verb stop, avoid, frustrate, restrain, check, bar, block, anticipate, hamper, foil, inhibit, head off, avert, thwart, intercept, hinder, obstruct, preclude, impede, counteract, ward off, balk, stave off, forestall, defend against, obviate, nip in the bud These methods prevent pregnancy. We took steps to prevent it happening.
help, encourage, support, allow, urge, permit, incite

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:

avert, forestall, forfend, obviate, preclude, rule out, stave off, ward (off).

Idiom: nip in the bud.

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

يَمْنَع

zabránit

forhindre

verhindernhindernabhalten

αποτρέπωπρολαμβάνω

impedirevitarprecaverprevenir

ennetama

estääehkäistä

empêcherprévenir

spriječiti

megakadályozmeggátol

hindra

impedireprevenireevitareprecorrere

防ぐ

예방하다

apsaugojimaskelio užkirtimasprevencijaprevencinisprofilaktinis

aizkavētatturētnovērst

verhinderenvoorkomen

forebyggehindre

zapobiec

impedirprevenir

помешатьпредотвращатьпредупредить

preprečiti

förhindra

ป้องกัน

önlemek

ngăn ngừa

防止阻止预防

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 violence → queremos evitar que la violencia desplegada ayer se repita → queremos 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 escape → instalaciones fpl para prevenir or impedir cualquier intento de huida
bodyguards prevented his attempt to shoot the president → unos guardaespaldas hicieron fracasar su intento de disparar al presidente
to prevent the spread of AIDS/nuclear weapons → impedir la propagación del SIDA/la proliferación de las armas nucleares
to prevent sb (from) doing sth; prevent sb's doing sth → impedir que algn haga algo
I can't prevent him (from) leaving the country; I can't prevent his leaving the country → no puedo impedir que se vaya del país
don't let this prevent you from going → no dejes que esto te impida ir
she bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out → se 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 sth → verhindern, verhüten; (through preventive measures) → vorbeugen (+dat); to prevent somebody (from) doing something → jdn daran hindern or davon abhalten, etw zu tun; the gate is there to prevent them from falling down the stairs → das Gitter ist dazu da, dass sie nicht die Treppe hinunterfallen; to prevent somebody from coming → jdn am Kommen hindern; there is nothing to prevent me → nichts kann mich daran hindern or davon abhalten; to prevent something (from) happening → verhindern, 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. voorkom يَمْنَع предотвратявам impedir zabránit hindern forhindre εμποδίζω, αποτρέπωimpedir takistama مانع شدن estää empêcher לִמנוֹעַ रोकना spriječiti (meg)akadályoz; megelőz mencegah hindra impedire じゃまする 방해하다 sulaikyti, sutrukdyti, užkardyti atturēt; aizkavēt; novērst menghalang beletten, voorkómenhindre, forebyggepowstrzymać مانع كيدل impedir a împiedica предотвращать; препятствовать zabrániť preprečiti sprečiti hindra, förhindra ป้องกัน önlemek 阻止，防止 заважати, перешкоджати روکنا، باز رکھنا ngăn chặn 阻止，防止

preˈvention (-ʃən) noun

the act of preventing. a society for the prevention of road accidents. voorkoming مَنْع предотвратяване prevenção předcházení, zamezení die Verhinderung forhindring; bekæmpelse πρόληψη, παρεμπόδιση prevención vältimine جلوگیری estäminen préventionמניעה रोकथाम sprečavanje, prevencija megakadályozás; megelőzés pencegahan hindrun prevenzione 防止 예방 apsaugojimas, kelio užkirtimas, užkardymas, prevencija atturēšana; aizkavēšana; novēršana pencegahan het voorkómen vern, hindring, forebyggingzapobieganie جلوگيرى prevenção prevenire предотвращение predchádzanie, zamedzenie preprečitev prevencija förhindrande การป้องกัน önleme 阻止 запобігання; застереження ممانعت، روک hành động ngăn chặn 阻止

preˈventive (-tiv) adjective

that helps to prevent illness etc. preventive medicine. voorkomend واقٍ، وِقائي، مانِع профилактичен preventivo preventivní vorbeugend forebyggende προληπτικόςpreventivo ärahoidev پیشگیرانه ehkäisevä préventifמונע निवारक preventivan, zaštitni megelőző pencegahan forvarnar- preventivo 予防の 예방적인 apsauginis, profilaktinis, prevencinis preventīvs; profilaktisks pencegahan preventiefforebyggende, preventiv zapobiegawczy وقايوى، مخنيوى preventivo preventiv профилактический preventívny preventiven preventivan preventiv, förebyggande เกี่ยวกับการป้องกันโรค önleyici, koruyucu 預防的 запобіжний; профілактичний مانع مرض ngăn ngừa 预防的

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.