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
Studies of the zoo’s young elephants is shared with the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in the hopes of delivering care to elephant youth to prevent orphanage.
—
Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
More security must be implemented at high-crime CTA train stations to increase youth ridership and prevent individuals engaging in inappropriate behavior from using the trains.
—Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
Republican lawmakers argue the secrecy surrounding the releases has prevented public accountability and raised serious public-safety concerns.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
In the year since his inauguration, his administration has continued its attacks on trans people, including by attempting to prevent trans athletes from competing in sports.
—Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prevent
Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
More security must be implemented at high-crime CTA train stations to increase youth ridership and prevent individuals engaging in inappropriate behavior from using the trains.
—Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
Republican lawmakers argue the secrecy surrounding the releases has prevented public accountability and raised serious public-safety concerns.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
In the year since his inauguration, his administration has continued its attacks on trans people, including by attempting to prevent trans athletes from competing in sports.
—Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prevent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prevent
Verb
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After hours of House of Commons debate, a vote was averted when the government gave in to lawmakers' anger and agreed that the Intelligence and Security Committee would decide what papers should be published, rather than a senior civil servant as Starmer had proposed.—
JILL LAWLESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
5 Feb. 2026
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As tensions simmer, neighboring countries have been mediating between the two sides to avert a war, noting that any conflict could spread and destabilize the Middle East.—
Kevin Liptak,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Wolves were rumored to be pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Dosunmu deal likely precludes a deal for the former two-time MVP.—
Anthony Bettin,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
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While a handful of hospitals reinstated the care after a short pause, that hasn’t precluded some from suspending it again under further federal pressure, as Children’s Hospital Colorado did last month.—
Theresa Gaffney,
STAT,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In Texas, wind, solar and storage provided about 25% of power for the grid's 27 million customers -- a major increase over 2021 and a key reason blackouts were largely avoided, said John Hensley, a senior vice president at the American Clean Power Association, an industry group.—
MATTHEW DALY,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
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Healey avoided answering the question, instead stating that Massachusetts officials tipped off the feds to the $7 million SNAP fraud scheme uncovered by Foley’s office in December.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prevent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prevent. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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