Definition of forestall
transitive verb
1 : to prevent the normal trading in by buying or diverting goods or by persuading persons to raise prices forestalling the wheat harvest and selling it at three times its cost — G. B. Shaw
2 archaic : intercept
4 : to exclude, hinder, or prevent by prior occupation or measures Negotiations failed to forestall the conflict.
5 : to get ahead of : anticipate detailed explanations intended to forestall questions
forestaller
nounIndulge Your Inner Word Nerd
Examples of forestall in a Sentence
Negotiations failed to forestall the conflict.
His comments were meant to forestall criticism of his proposal.
He forestalled critics by offering a defense of the project.
Recent Examples of forestall from the Web
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Whether heftier incentives will be able to keep the market moving and forestall further job cuts is far from certain.
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Signing the waiver this week would forestall any move for another six months.
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Her theories about how an institution can and should adapt will forestall concerns about a top-down approach.
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Identical structures were built for black and white students in a futile attempt to forestall integration.
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A settlement with the people who had strung up the chain helped forestall financial ruin.
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This meeting is more about forestalling an oil price collapse than driving prices higher.
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America Online has forestalled a court battle by agreeing to make its client software more accessible to the vision impaired.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'forestall'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of forestall
Middle English, from forstall act of waylaying, from Old English foresteall, from fore- + steall position, stall
Synonym Discussion of forestall
Other Business Terms
FORESTALL Defined for English Language Learners
forestall
playDefinition of forestall for English Language Learners
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: to stop (something) from happening or to cause (something) to happen at a later time
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: to act before (someone else) in order to prevent something
FORESTALL Defined for Kids
forestall
playDefinition of forestall for Students
forestalled
;forestalling
: to keep out, interfere with, or prevent by steps taken in advance forestalling problems
Learn More about forestall
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See words that rhyme with forestall Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for forestall Spanish Central: Translation of forestall Nglish: Translation of forestall for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of forestall for Arabic speakers
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