prevent
Syllables: pre·vent/pɹəˈvɛnt/UK/pɹɪˈvɛnt/
prevent verb: to stop (an outcome); to keep from (doing something).
Verb
prevent (third-person singular simple present prevents, present participle preventing, simple past and past participle prevented)
- To stop (an outcome); to keep from (doing something).
- I brush my teeth regularly to prevent tooth decay.
- Barriers have been put up to prevent more people (from) entering the stadium.
- Synonyms:
- throttle, anticipate, avert
- To take preventative measures.
- I think you must be mad, and she shall not have a glimpse of it while I'm here to prevent!1897 October 16, Henry James, What Maisie Knew, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Herbert S. Stone & Co., →OCLC
- To come before; to precede.
- We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us.1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC
- We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Thessalonians 4:15
- To outdo, surpass.
- With that he put his spurres vnto his steed, / With speare in rest, and toward him did fare, / Like shaft out of a bow preuenting speed.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC
- To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
- their ready guilt preventing thy commandsc. 1699 – 1703, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius His Thebais”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC
prevent meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
prevent in Hindi
- to keep from happening — see also forestall, avert, ward off, impede
- निवारण nivāraṇ
prevent in Tamil
- தடு, வருமுன் காத்தல், முன்தவிர்த்தல்
prevent in Marathi
- प्रतिबंध करणे
prevent in Urdu
- باز رکھنا, پکڑنا, روکنا, ٹوکنا
More languagesFewer languages
- prevent in Bengali
- আটকান, বিরত করা, নিবারণ করা, ব্যাহত করা
- prevent in Telugu
- నివారించు nivāriñcu
- prevent in Malayalam
- തടയുക taṭayuka
- prevent in Kannada
- ತಡೆ, ತಪ್ಪಿಸು, ನಿವಾರಿಸು, ಪ್ರತಿಬಂಧಿಸು
- prevent in Punjabi
- ਠਾਕਣਾ ṭhākăṇā
- prevent in Odia
- ପ୍ରତିରୋଧ କରିବା, ପ୍ରତିରୋଧ କରନ୍ତୁ
- prevent in Nepali
- रोकथाम गर्ने
- prevent in Tagalog
- iwasan
- prevent in Arabic
- مَنَعَ manaʕa
- prevent in Malay
- mencegah
- prevent in Indonesian
- mencegah
- prevent in Thai
- ป้องกัน bpɔ̂ng-gan
- prevent in Vietnamese
- ngăn, ngăn chặn
Examples of prevent in a sentence
- The only reason the VW bug has a solenoid is to prevent it from dieseling.
- Running a program in a sandbox can prevent it from doing any damage to the system.
- To prevent any shooting accidents, remember to clear your pistol and stay aware of your surroundings.
Synonyms of prevent
Forms of prevent
| third-person singular present | prevents |
|---|---|
| present participle | preventing |
| past participle | prevented |
| past | prevented |
| alternative form | prævent |
Origin of prevent
From Middle English preventen (“anticipate”), from Latin praeventus, perfect passive participle of praeveniō (“to anticipate”), from prae (“before”) + veniō (“to come”).
Words formed from prevent
Phrases with prevent
Words that rhyme with prevent
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- repent
- ascent
- rent
- resent
- scent
- absent
- augment
- cement
- content
- extent
- fragment
- lent
- anent
- consent
- dent
- dissent
- percent
- relent
- spent
- Tashkent
- tent
- accent
- circumvent
- convent
- discontent
- intent
- invent
- went
- %
- assent
- dement
- ferment
- foment
- gent
- Gwent
- incent
- lament
- malcontent
- reinvent
- stent
- underrepresent
- attent
- big tent
- blent
- detent
- diapertent
- djent
- ent
Questions about prevent
- What does prevent mean?
- Prevent means to stop (an outcome); to keep from (doing something).
- What is prevent in Hindi?
- Prevent in Hindi is निवारण (nivāraṇ). See Prevent meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is prevent?
- Prevent is a verb.
- How do you pronounce prevent?
- Prevent is pronounced /pɹɪˈvɛnt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of prevent?
- The past tense of prevent is prevented.
Words near prevent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prevent (page history and authors); prevent (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prevent (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prevent (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prevent (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prevent (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਠਾਕਣਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); prevent (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prevent (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-prevent.ogg.
Cite this entry: “prevent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prevent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.