prevention
Other forms: preventions
When an action stops something from happening, like assigning extra teachers to watch a playground during recess to prevent bullying, it's called prevention.
The noun prevention comes up most often when people are trying to keep something bad in check, like crime, disease, or forest fires. Educating kids about nutrition is one form of obesity prevention, for example, and lowering speed limits can help with accident prevention. The word prevent is at the root of prevention, and it comes from the Latin praeventus, "anticipate or hinder."
Definitions of prevention
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the act of preventing“money was allocated to study the cause and prevention of influenza”
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synonyms:
bar
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types:
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averting
the act of preventing something from occurring
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debarment
the act of prevention by legal means
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disqualification
the act of preventing someone from participating by finding them unqualified
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interception
the act of intercepting; preventing something from proceeding or arriving
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non-proliferation, nonproliferation
the prevention of something increasing or spreading (especially the prevention of an increase in the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons)
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forestalling, obviation, preclusion
the act of preventing something by anticipating and disposing of it effectively
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prophylaxis
the prevention of disease
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save
(sports) the act of preventing the opposition from scoring
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crushing, quelling, stifling, suppression
forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority
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suspension, temporary removal
a temporary debarment (from a privilege or position etc)
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recusal, recusation
(law) the disqualification of a judge or jury by reason of prejudice or conflict of interest; a judge can be recused by objections of either party or judges can disqualify themselves
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crackdown
severely repressive actions
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type of:
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hinderance, hindrance, interference
the act of hindering or obstructing or impeding
Pronunciation
US
/prɪˈvɛnʃɪn/
UK
/prɪˈvɛnʃən/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘prevention'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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