as in to prevent
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
you can often forestall skidding on the ice simply by driving more slowly
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Recent Examples of forestall
The lack of progress within the Colorado River Basin is frustrating many tribal leaders, who have used their own water to help forestall shortages on the river.
—
Debra Utacia Krol, AZCentral.com, 14 Dec. 2025
To forestall these objections, new programs aimed at leveling the playing field could emphasize that the workplace will continue to uphold its values and that everyone — including the majority — will remain treated fairly.
—Nina Stachenfeld, Twin Cities, 30 Nov. 2025
Iran also failed to forestall the re-imposition of UN sanctions lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear deal) at the UN General Assembly this year.
—Big Think, 25 Nov. 2025
But in August, the Michigan Land Conservancy was able to forestall the auction with a $1 million option to buy.
—Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forestall
Debra Utacia Krol, AZCentral.com, 14 Dec. 2025
To forestall these objections, new programs aimed at leveling the playing field could emphasize that the workplace will continue to uphold its values and that everyone — including the majority — will remain treated fairly.
—Nina Stachenfeld, Twin Cities, 30 Nov. 2025
Iran also failed to forestall the re-imposition of UN sanctions lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear deal) at the UN General Assembly this year.
—Big Think, 25 Nov. 2025
But in August, the Michigan Land Conservancy was able to forestall the auction with a $1 million option to buy.
—Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for forestall
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forestall
Verb
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Authorities called for additional measures to prevent overlap between performer and audience exit times and to minimize traffic disruption in the surrounding area.—
Hannah Abraham,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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Politically, there might also be little to gain from the international outcry that would arise were the high-profile artist detained or prevented from entering Beijing.—
Stephy Chung,
CNN Money,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Its networking and optical connectivity chips function as the lifeline of modern data centers, averting bottlenecks as inference workloads expand across clusters.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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Another special skill for binocular astronomers that isn’t intuitive is averted vision.—
Jase Parnell-Brookes,
Space.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Forestall.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forestall. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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