as in to prevent
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
issued a strict schedule for doing household chores so as to preclude any arguments
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Recent Examples of preclude
None of that would preclude the Broncos from adding another young talent in the draft, and the depth that exists in the late-first, early second-round range for this class could line up nicely.
—
Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Bam Adebayo does not have the offensive arsenal and Tyler Herro’s defensive issues preclude that.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2026
Defense officials have demanded the right to use Claude without restriction, threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to make its products available and label the company a supply-chain risk, a move that would preclude Anthropic from doing deals with military suppliers.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
Reflecting the global reach of American hegemony, as well as the way the bureaucratic style of Soviet espionage precluded such individual initiative, eighteen of these thirty operatives were Americans.
—Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preclude
Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Bam Adebayo does not have the offensive arsenal and Tyler Herro’s defensive issues preclude that.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2026
Defense officials have demanded the right to use Claude without restriction, threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to make its products available and label the company a supply-chain risk, a move that would preclude Anthropic from doing deals with military suppliers.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
Reflecting the global reach of American hegemony, as well as the way the bureaucratic style of Soviet espionage precluded such individual initiative, eighteen of these thirty operatives were Americans.
—Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for preclude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preclude
Verb
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The Democratic senator, who voted for the USMCA trade pact in 2019, is calling for better labor standards, enforcement provisions, wage protections, and updates to origin requirements that prevent China from accessing the North American market through Mexico.—
Morgan Chalfant,
semafor.com,
12 Mar. 2026
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The finding has the potential to provide a longer runway to make the lifestyle changes that can help reduce risk, and could be used to better identify subjects who could benefit from participating in clinical trials seeking to prevent or treat neurodegenerative disease.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Today’s parents grew up in a world where vaccines averted preventable diseases, or at least lessened the toll of those illnesses if infection occurred.—
Helen Branswell,
STAT,
2 Mar. 2026
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The Ducks’ fourth line toiled low in the zone, and after the Jets hustled to avert the threat there, Trouba’s ostensibly harmless fling from the far corner found the net, appearing to hit Winnipeg defenseman Ville Heinola’s stick first.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Preclude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preclude. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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