forestall

English

Etymology

From Middle English forestallen (“to forestall, intercept, ambush, way-lay”), from forestalle (“a forestalling, interception”), from Old English foresteall (“intervention, hindrance of justice, ambush”), from fore- (“ahead of, before”) + steall (“position”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɔɹˈstɔl/
• Rhymes: -ɔːl

Verb

forestall (third-person singular simple present forestalls, present participle forestalling, simple past and past participle forestalled)

1. (transitive) To prevent, delay or hinder something by taking precautionary or anticipatory measures; to avert.

   Fred forestalled disaster by his prompt action.

2. (transitive) To preclude or bar from happening, render impossible.

   In French, an aspired h forestalls elision.

3. (archaic) To purchase the complete supply of a good, particularly foodstuffs, in order to charge a monopoly price.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:hinder

Derived terms

• forestaller
• forestallment
• forestalment

Translations

to prevent

French: empêcher (fr), prévenir (fr)

Italian: prevenire (it)

Anagrams

• fellators