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Prevent   /prɪvˈɛnt/  /privˈɛnt/   Listen
verb
Prevent  v. t.  (past & past part. prevented; pres. part. preventing)  
1.
To go before; to precede; hence, to go before as a guide; to direct. (Obs.) "We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." "We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us." "Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen."
2.
To be beforehand with; to anticipate. (Obs.) "Their ready guilt preventing thy commands."
3.
To intercept; to hinder; to frustrate; to stop; to thwart. "This vile purpose to prevent." "Perhaps forestalling night prevented them."



Prevent  v. i.  To come before the usual time. (Obs.) "Strawberries... will prevent and come early."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Prevent" Quotes from Famous Books



... on that only criterion, "Has the author done what he meant to do, and done it well, on the lines he chose?" Of course, if our reader says, "I don't care about all this, I merely want to be amused and interested," one cannot prevent him. He had, in fact, as was hinted just now, better read nothing but Atala and Rene, if not, indeed, Atala only, immense as is the literary importance of its companion. But in a history of the novel one is entitled ...
— A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 - To the Close of the 19th Century • George Saintsbury

... highly creditable to them. Vast multitudes have assembled from time to time at various places for the purpose of canvassing the merits and pretensions of those who were presented for their suffrages, but no armed soldiery has been necessary to restrain within proper limits the popular zeal or to prevent violent outbreaks. A principle much more controlling was found in the love of order and obedience to the laws, which, with mere individual exceptions, everywhere possesses the American mind, and controls with an ...
— State of the Union Addresses of John Tyler • John Tyler

... faces, but dat story made me tink it must be him. Berry bad man that; he libs close to us, and Massa Vincent one day pretty nigh kill him because he beat dat bery man who has catched him now on de street of Washington. When dat man sell him wife Massa Vincent buy her so as to prevent her falling into bad hands. She safe now wid his mother at de Orangery—dat's the name ...
— With Lee in Virginia - A Story of the American Civil War • G. A. Henty

... into their most private office, Hamlin bolted the door to prevent interruption, read him the letter received from Devonshire, and told him of the astounding discovery he had made at the —— bank. The question ...
— The Wedge of Gold • C. C. Goodwin

... many advantages. For one thing, it would prevent the pecuniary losses often caused by a severe winter. In the Poetaster (1601), Jonson makes Histrio, representing the Globe Players, say: "O, it will get us a huge deal of money, and we have need on't, for this winter has made ...
— Shakespearean Playhouses - A History of English Theatres from the Beginnings to the Restoration • Joseph Quincy Adams


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