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forestall

fo·res·tall

UK/ˈfɔː(ɹ).stɔːl/ US/fɔˈrstɔl/ fairly common uk

verb

1.

keep from happening or arising; have the effect of preventing

  • “My sense of tact forbids an honest answer”
Synonyms
2.

Origin

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”), equivalent to fore- + stall.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.