prevent
verb (prevent, prevents, prevented, preventing)
Everyday
- To prevent something means to stop it from happening. tree →
- To prevent someone from doing something means to stop them doing it. tree →
In the lessons
In safety and health lessons, prevention is the main idea: wash hands to prevent germs spreading; wear sun cream to prevent sunburn; brush teeth to prevent tooth decay; use a smoke alarm to prevent deaths in fires; wear a helmet to prevent head injuries. In science, dams prevent floods and insulation prevents heat loss. Phrases: «prevent from», «help prevent», «prevent accidents», «prevention is better than cure».
Examples
- Washing your hands helps prevent the spread of germs. tree →
- Sun cream can prevent sunburn. tree →
- Brushing your teeth prevents tooth decay. tree →
- The rain prevented us from playing outside. tree →
- Fences prevent children from falling into the pool. tree →
- Smoke alarms help prevent deaths in fires. tree →
- The goalkeeper prevented a goal. tree →
- What could we do to prevent accidents in the playground? tree →
Note
Use «prevent someone/something from doing»: «The rain prevented us from going», not «prevented us to go». Noun: «prevention»; adjective «preventable». «Prevent» is before something happens; «cure» or «fix» is after.
In Jewish tradition
In safety and health lessons, prevention is the main idea: wash hands to prevent germs spreading; wear sun cream to prevent sunburn; brush teeth to prevent tooth decay; use a smoke alarm to prevent deaths in fires; wear a helmet to prevent head injuries. In science, dams prevent floods and insulation prevents heat loss. Phrases: «prevent from», «help prevent», «prevent accidents», «prevention is better than cure».
Examples
- Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
Note
Use «prevent someone/something from doing»: «The rain prevented us from going», not «prevented us to go». Noun: «prevention»; adjective «preventable». «Prevent» is before something happens; «cure» or «fix» is after.
Early Modern English
Meaning
To come before or get ahead of something; to anticipate it. tree →
Then and now
Today it means to stop something from happening; the old sense is "go before", and the sentences use it that way.
Examples
- Four boys caught him to prevent the thud. (Peter Pan) tree →
- Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- This time they could not prevent him overhearing. (Irish Fairy Tales) tree →
Note
Today: go before, come before.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «prevent» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «prevent» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «prevent» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «prevent» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «prevent» in the Early Modern English dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «prevent» in the Early Modern English dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/prevent/