as in preventing
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 forestalling
By some interpretations, the fawner resembles Scheherazade, forestalling death through creative feats that appease the men around her.
—
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Phased retirement can also help companies to manage the consequences of the looming workforce contraction by forestalling brain drain and smoothing succession planning — all while preserving the institutional knowledge and relationships that help companies thrive.
—Mary Moreland, Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
Impressive as that is, though, forestalling a hostage situation is not really in her wheelhouse, and Nolan grabs Summerville’s gun, kicking out Elsbeth and Summerville while trapping the store’s staff and one customer.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Those efforts were defensive, aimed at forestalling oversight that might slow growth.
—Paulo Carvão, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Could see the futility of forestalling the harmful acts of an addict.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
Phased retirement can also help companies to manage the consequences of the looming workforce contraction by forestalling brain drain and smoothing succession planning — all while preserving the institutional knowledge and relationships that help companies thrive.
—Mary Moreland, Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
Impressive as that is, though, forestalling a hostage situation is not really in her wheelhouse, and Nolan grabs Summerville’s gun, kicking out Elsbeth and Summerville while trapping the store’s staff and one customer.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Those efforts were defensive, aimed at forestalling oversight that might slow growth.
—Paulo Carvão, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Could see the futility of forestalling the harmful acts of an addict.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forestalling
Verb
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The lawsuit seeks financial compensation for destruction of the campus, as well as injunctive relief aimed at preventing Edison from causing more wildfires in the future.—
Melody Petersen,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Jan. 2026
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Exercise and protein can also help regulate your body’s metabolism, preventing a spike in blood sugar.—
Heidi Moawad,
Verywell Health,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Superior Court Judge Robert Genuario, a Norwalk Republican who spent a more than a decade in the Senate and on Appropriations in the 1990s and 2000s, credits Keane’s sense of humor with averting a budget crisis in 1995.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
26 Jan. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Forestalling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forestalling. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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