forestall Hear it!

forestall definition

fore·stall (fôr stôl′)

transitive verb

  1. to prevent or hinder by doing something ahead of time
  2. to act in advance of; get ahead of; anticipate
  3. to interfere with the trading in (a market) by buying up goods in advance, getting sellers to raise prices, etc.
  4. Obsolete
    1. to intercept
    2. to obstruct by force

Etymology: ME forestallen < forestal, ambush < OE foresteall: see fore & stall

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

forestall Synonyms

forestall

v.

  1. To hinder

    thwart, prevent, avert; see hinder, prevent.

  2. To anticipate

    provide against, be ready for, get ahead of; see anticipate 2. See syn. study at prevent.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

forestall Usage Examples

Object

  • criticism: Industry's desire to forestall criticisms, arising from an inflated fear of them, only serves to aggravate public distrust.

Used with why or when

  • what: So he forestalled what might be the next move: " Some of us pumped on our heads -- mine's damp yet.

Present participle complement

  • have: Definitely better to try to forestall having to go back to court.

Modifying Another Word

  • thus: These codes show the willingness of boards to regulate themselves, thus forestalling the need for government to intervene with codes of its own.
forestall usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"forestall." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/forestall>

APA Style

forestall. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/forestall

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment