as in to avert
to keep from happening by taking action in advance
a lot of problems would have been prevented if we'd just prepared better
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Recent Examples of prevent
Some notices also advised keeping windows closed to prevent smoke getting indoors.
—
Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
Iran's arch-foe Israel, which sees Tehran's nuclear programme as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
—Parisa Hafezi, USA Today, 5 June 2025
President Trump on Wednesday signed a travel ban on 12 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, resurrecting an effort from his first term to prevent large numbers of immigrants and visitors from entering the United States.
—Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times, 5 June 2025
This means implementing strong guardrails that prevent models from generating harmful content, engaging in deceptive practices, or making decisions that violate human rights.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for prevent
Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
Iran's arch-foe Israel, which sees Tehran's nuclear programme as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
—Parisa Hafezi, USA Today, 5 June 2025
President Trump on Wednesday signed a travel ban on 12 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, resurrecting an effort from his first term to prevent large numbers of immigrants and visitors from entering the United States.
—Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times, 5 June 2025
This means implementing strong guardrails that prevent models from generating harmful content, engaging in deceptive practices, or making decisions that violate human rights.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for prevent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prevent
Verb
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The enclave needs at least 500 to 600 trucks daily to avert a deepening humanitarian catastrophe, as civilians face a severe shortage of supplies like food and medicine, said UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza.—
Jeremy Diamond,
CNN Money,
26 May 2025
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Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, the state’s largest nursing home coalition, praised Lamont and union leadership for averting a work stoppage.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
23 May 2025
Verb
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America’s competition for prominence with Qatar in the LNG exports sector works to preclude major deals in that area.—
David Blackmon,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
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His job precludes him from playing favorites in a professional sense.—
Dennis Lin,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Verb
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The team’s careful planning and early outreach helped avoid problems in the future, like having to replace important music in post-production – something that simply wasn’t an option here.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
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Yet Trump held his fire, in part because of an effort to avoid an escalation that would trigger Musk to declare all-out war against Republican lawmakers weighing the future of a bill essential to his entire agenda, according to two White House officials.—
Phil Mattingly,
CNN Money,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prevent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prevent. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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