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
And that includes taking better care of your passwords to prevent the rapidly-evolving infostealer malware threat.
—
Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Crowley and members of her executive staff blamed City Hall budget cuts for their inability to prevent or limit the scope of the destruction.
—Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Health economists have also shared concerns about long-term affordability, even if these drugs prevent diabetes or heart disease.
—Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2025
Perhaps more important, though, is doing your best to prevent those flares in the first place.
—Sierra Leone Starks, Allure, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prevent
Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Crowley and members of her executive staff blamed City Hall budget cuts for their inability to prevent or limit the scope of the destruction.
—Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Health economists have also shared concerns about long-term affordability, even if these drugs prevent diabetes or heart disease.
—Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2025
Perhaps more important, though, is doing your best to prevent those flares in the first place.
—Sierra Leone Starks, Allure, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prevent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prevent
Verb
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The good news is — so long as the estimate holds — those figures hit near the high end and avert the low end of the tracking numbers released by The Hollywood Reporter on April 10, which pegged a $63 million to $77 million opening weekend take in North American theaters.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
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Avoided a government shutdown Congress managed to avert a government shutdown in late March, passing a stopgap funding bill to keep federal agencies running through the end of the fiscal year.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
29 Apr. 2025
Verb
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But, even for specialists, the current system precludes them from ordering tests or prescribing therapies for caregivers.—
Rebecca T Brown,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 May 2025
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The 80-year period from the end of World War II has been a time of relative peace and stability in part because overwhelming American power precluded smaller nations from acting on their own.—
Colin Pascal,
Baltimore Sun,
1 May 2025
Verb
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Until the masses adopt it, fraudsters can simply avoid platforms that require World ID and continue doing business as usual.—
Jennifer Jolly,
USA Today,
2 May 2025
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Maria desperately wanted her children to avoid the same path.—
Matt Robison,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prevent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prevent. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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