intervene

verb

in·​ter·​vene ˌin-tər-ˈvēn 

intervened; intervening

intransitive verb

1

: to occur, fall, or come between points of time or events

only six months intervened between their marriage and divorce

2

a

: to interfere with the outcome or course especially of a condition or process (as to prevent harm or improve functioning)

b

: to come in or between by way of hindrance or modification

intervene to stop a fight

3

: to enter or appear as an irrelevant or extraneous feature or circumstance

it's business as usual until a crisis intervenes

4

: to occur or lie between two things

5

a

: to become a third party to a legal proceeding begun by others for the protection of an alleged interest

b

: to interfere usually by force or threat of force in another nation's internal affairs especially to compel or prevent an action

Synonyms

• intercede
• intermediate
• interpose
• mediate

Choose the Right Synonym for intervene

interpose, interfere, intervene, mediate, intercede mean to come or go between.

interpose often implies no more than this.

interposed herself between him and the door

interfere implies hindering.

noise interfered with my concentration

intervene may imply an occurring in space or time between two things or a stepping in to stop a conflict.

quarreled until the manager intervened

mediate implies intervening between hostile factions.

mediated between the parties

intercede implies acting for an offender in begging mercy or forgiveness.

interceded on our behalf

Examples of intervene in a Sentence

Twenty years intervened between their first and last meetings.

The prisoner asked me to intervene with the authorities on his behalf.

The military had to intervene to restore order.

We will leave on time unless some crisis intervenes.

Recent Examples on the Web

In June 2022, a plane was grounded by an eleventh-hour ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, which intervened to stop the deportation of one of the asylum-seekers on the flight. —Fatima Al-Kassab, NPR, 23 Apr. 2024

Jackson also noted that the NLRB receives an average of 20,000 complaints of unfair labor charges each year but asked the court to intervene only seven times last year. —USA TODAY, 23 Apr. 2024

But the common perception among students is that this worker refused to intervene, based on interviews with the two witnesses and about half a dozen other students who were not at the scene. —Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024

Once again, chance had intervened, as the head of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum had earlier recommended that Blair read this remarkable book. —Eugene Linden, TIME, 21 Apr. 2024

Things really started to go wrong, observers and insiders say, when the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once again intervened in Haitian politics, insisting that Préval hold elections in a barely functioning, devastated country. —Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2024

And schools should aim to intervene before a student’s behavior warrants legal consequences. —Yana Kunichoff, The Arizona Republic, 17 Apr. 2024

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Idaho to broadly enforce a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, the first time the justices have intervened on the contentious issue of transgender health treatments. —Ann Marimow, Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2024

Several others immediately attempted to intervene while screams could be heard in the church. —Christian Edwards, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin intervenire to come between, from inter- + venire to come — more at come

First Known Use

1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

intervene

verb

in·​ter·​vene ˌint-ər-ˈvēn 

intervened; intervening

1

: to happen as an unrelated event

rain intervened and we canceled the game

2

: to come between points of time or between events

barely one minute intervened between the two phone calls

3

: to come between in order to stop, settle, or change

intervene to stop a fight

4

: to be or lie between

intervening hills

intervention

-ˈven-chən 

noun

Legal Definition

intervene

intransitive verb

in·​ter·​vene ˌin-tər-ˈvēn 

intervened; intervening

1

: to occur, fall, or come between points of time or events

may be held liable even though other independent agencies intervene between his negligence and the ultimate result

—Hooks Superx, Inc. v. McLaughlin, 642 N.E.2d 514 (1994)

2

a

: to come in or between by way of hindrance or modification

intervene to stop a fight

b

: to become a party to a legal proceeding begun by others in order to protect an alleged interest in the subject matter of the proceeding

the Commissioner of Internal Revenue was granted leave to intervene

—P. A. Freund

compare implead, interplead, join

intervenor

-ˈvē-nər, -ˌnȯr 

noun