Prevent Prevented Prɪˈvent Preventing Speaking Injustice Verb Bre

• the accident could have been prevented.
• the government took steps to prevent a scandal.
• he is prevented by law from holding a licence.
• nothing would prevent him from speaking out against injustice.

prevent

1. to stop somebody from doing something; to stop something from happening
• The accident could have been prevented.
• The government took steps to prevent a scandal.
• He is prevented by law from holding a licence.
• Nothing would prevent him from speaking out against injustice.
• Nothing would prevent him/his speaking out against injustice.

Extra Examples

• A good sunscreen will help prevent sunburn.
• Action must be swift in order to prevent further damage.
• Better intelligence could have possibly prevented the attack.
• No one can prevent you from attending this meeting.
• The drug inhibits the replication of cancer cells, thereby preventing their spread.
• The whole affair is an outrage and the authorities have done nothing to prevent it.
• There was nothing to prevent him setting up in business on the premises.
• There’s nothing to prevent these guys from copying our idea.
• These barriers completely prevent new companies from entering the market.
• They took action to prevent the disease from spreading.
• This new legislation effectively prevents us from trading.
• a study to determine whether the brace can reliably prevent knee injuries
• new measures aimed at preventing accidents
• Is there a total sun block which prevents tanning altogether?
• These strategies are aimed at preventing crime.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they prevent
• he / she / it prevents
• past simple prevented
• past participle prevented
• -ing form preventing

Word Origin

• late Middle English (in the sense ‘act in anticipation of’): from Latin praevent- ‘preceded, hindered’, from the verb praevenire, from prae ‘before’ + venire ‘come’.