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Prevent   /prɪvˈɛnt/  /privˈɛnt/   Listen
Prevent

verb
(past & past part. prevented; pres. part. preventing)
1.
Keep from happening or arising; make impossible.  Synonyms: forbid, foreclose, forestall, preclude.  "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"
2.
Stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state.  Synonym: keep.  "His snoring kept me from falling asleep" , "Keep the child from eating the marbles"



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"Prevent" Quotes from Famous Books



... troublesome inflation and the discouragement of investors. The government's resistance to initiating greater transparency and accountability in managing the country's multibillion dollar oil earnings continues to limit economic growth and prevent an agreement with the IMF and bilateral creditors on debt relief. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food. Agricultural production in ...
— The 1997 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... member of the Society, or even treat any one of them disrespectfully. He went still further, and sent a detachment of guards to the college daily, with orders to accompany each of the priests wherever he went, and in sufficient numbers to prevent any attack. ...
— Studies from Court and Cloister • J.M. Stone

... by the happening of two or three incidents. His fat housekeeper, who ruled him with a rod of iron, and insulted Mrs. Austin and others, undertook to manage me in the same way, and got packed off in consequence, though I did all I could to keep the secret, and prevent the catastrophe; but he insisted on knowing why I left him, and he applied to the secretaries, who were witnesses of the whole transaction. The philosopher was indignant, and insisted on her making me a suitable apology. I said I wanted no apology, having ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 97, November, 1865 • Various

... 11, 1790). "A nun of St. Mande, brought to the bar of the house, thanks the Assembly for the decree by which the cloisters are opened, and denounces the tricks, intrigues, and even violence exercised in the convents to prevent the execution of the decree."—Ibid. March 29, 1790. See the various addresses which are read. "At Lagnon, the mother of a family assembled her ten children, and swore with them and for them to be loyal to the nation and to the King."—Ibid. June 5, ...
— The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6) - The French Revolution, Volume 1 (of 3) • Hippolyte A. Taine

... not disgraced if for her parents' sake she sells herself to a life of misery so great, that, when a Japanese enters a house of ill-fame, he is forced to leave his sword and dirk at the door for two reasons—first, to prevent brawling; secondly, because it is known that some of the women inside so loathe their existence that they would put an end to it, could they ...
— Tales of Old Japan • Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford

... hear, how Bertran brands me with a crime, Of which, your son can witness, I am free. I sent to stop the murder, but too late; For crimes are swift, but penitence is slow: The bloody Bertran, diligent in ill, Flew to prevent the soft returns ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Vol. 6 (of 18) - Limberham; Oedipus; Troilus and Cressida; The Spanish Friar • John Dryden

... us looking at each other," said Flower, "and he can't prevent us marrying when we get to the other end. Good-night, Jack. Next time you see us we'll be an ...
— A Master Of Craft • W. W. Jacobs

... broken down: There was not a moment to lose. Thomas de Vaudemont was already approaching the bridge at the head of his troops. But the bridge, nevertheless, was destroyed before his eyes, and with all his musketeers he was not able to prevent it. ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... sailing of their fleets. At my first landing I was much surprised at the disagreeable smell which struck me in many parts of the town; it is caused by the whale oil, and is unavoidable; the neatness peculiar to these people can neither remove nor prevent it. There are near the wharfs a great many storehouses, where their staple commodity is deposited, as well as the innumerable materials which are always wanted to repair and fit out so many whalemen. They have three docks, each three hundred feet long, and extremely ...
— Letters from an American Farmer • Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

... attack of the man-ape that he found his hold before the anthropoid could prevent him—a savage hold, with strong jaws closed upon a pulsing jugular, and there he clung, with closed eyes, while his fingers sought another ...
— The Son of Tarzan • Edgar Rice Burroughs

... successfully; but this, with the cold of the voyage, made him, in his own word, 'shaky,' and it was well that he was a guest at Taurarua, with Lady Martin to take care of him, feed him on food not solid, and prevent him on the ensuing Sunday from taking more than one of the three services which had been at once proffered ...
— Life of John Coleridge Patteson • Charlotte M. Yonge

... "Put them in Prussian blue at once, and fly the German ensign. Rifles in a place like this—and two unarmed strangers against them! Why should the rogues hide their beautiful faces? If they would know all about us, what's to prevent them? Do we look like highwaymen or honest fellows? Be sure, my lad, that the young lady I am going to see wouldn't have any blacklegs about her house. Ruth Bellenden's too clever for that. She'd send them about their business quick enough, as she's sent many a one ...
— The House Under the Sea - A Romance • Sir Max Pemberton

... that she likes you at any rate," I said. Her hold on the child tightened, as if to prevent an escape. ...
— Lore of Proserpine • Maurice Hewlett

... e, which is a trifle wider than that at b, and which must be so situated that the column of water passing through b is exactly perpendicular to the center of the aperture at e. The tube then expands again to its original diameter, and is slightly curved, which is done to prevent any of the compressed air in the cylinder, K, ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 664, September 22,1888 • Various

... or ship's repairs. The fire-arms seemed to endow the new young chief, just engrafted into the reigning stock, with a kind of preternatural authority; and, by the aid of his old messmate, and new bosom-coadjutor, he exerted all his influence over their awed minds, to prevent their recurrence to the frightful practice he had seen on his first landing, of devouring the prisoners they took in war. His marriage had invested him with the power of a natively born son of the king; and, having made himself master of their language, his persuasions ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12, - Issue 340, Supplementary Number (1828) • Various

... that seemed to insure their destruction, Rene and Has-se advanced, cautiously, to be sure, but without a warning of what awaited them. At length they had approached within a quarter of a mile of the ambush, and one would have said that nothing could prevent their ...
— The Flamingo Feather • Kirk Munroe

... judge, "sent for me, and discovered the excess of her passion. I thought it my duty to fulfil her wishes, that I might prevent, though by an irregular proceeding on my part, a conduct still more irregular in her. She proposed that I should be her guardian; and having undertaken this character, and not condemning her choice, I believed ...
— Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers • Various

... yellow, barn-like building, heavily built to prevent its being blown away, snugly stowed beneath a hill, and seeming like a mother round which the huts of the Eskimo cluster. The rooms in which we were so pleasantly entertained were very comfortably and tastily furnished, a grand piano in one of them seeming out of place ...
— Bowdoin Boys in Labrador • Jonathan Prince (Jr.) Cilley

... the place of mother's milk fairly well, but it has its drawbacks, the chief one is that it curdles in heavy cheese-like masses, which lie heavy on the stomach, are long in digesting, and cause discomfort. The aim of the scientific and practical physician is to prevent this heavy curdling while allowing ...
— The Allinson Vegetarian Cookery Book • Thomas R. Allinson

... gaze to read, even at that distance, the king's enamoured looks, or Anne Boleyn's responsive glances. He saw that one of Henry's arms encircled her waist, while the other caressed her yielding hand. They paused. Henry bent forward, and Anne half averted her head, but not so much so as to prevent the king from imprinting a long and fervid ...
— Windsor Castle • William Harrison Ainsworth

... looks of care; I would not have you in my chamber seen, Nor thought that here, by night, a girl had been, Your caution is enough, the belle replied: Myself between the wall and bed I'll hide, 'Twill what you fear prevent, and ills avoid; But bolt the door: you'll then be not annoyed; Let no one come; for once I'll do my best, And as your valet act till you're undressed; To am'rous Constance this permission grant The honour would ...
— The Tales and Novels, Complete • Jean de La Fontaine

... turns, and in relays, in filthy beds that were never cool. There was often no discrimination between the sexes, and disease, misery, and vice flourished. Some of these miserable creatures would try to run away, and to prevent them, those suspected had irons riveted on their ankles, with long links reaching up to the hips, and were compelled to sleep and work with them on, young women and girls, as well as boys, suffering this brutal treatment. The number of deaths was so great that burials took ...
— Socialism - A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist Principles • John Spargo

... and everyone who was discontented, and everyone who was in debt, all the most desperate and needy—one can conceive what sort of men they must have been. The Bible tells us afterwards of the wicked men and men of Belial who were among them—wild men, with weapons in their hands, and nothing to prevent their becoming a band of brutal robbers, if they had not had over them a man in whom, in spite of all his faults, was ...
— True Words for Brave Men • Charles Kingsley

... whatever in the army regulations applying to such a case as yours. You have been kept here without authority, except the general authority which empowers the surgeon to help the wounded. But I have no control over you whatever. If you choose, nobody would prevent you from leaving this hospital. I cannot make a report of your case on any form furnished me. It was this difficulty, in your case, that made me beg the brigade adjutant to visit you; while the matter is irregular, it is, however, known at brigade headquarters, so that it is in as ...
— Who Goes There? • Blackwood Ketcham Benson

... To prevent any ill usage, neglect or cruelty, it will be necessary to make provision that the poor may tender their complaints to officers of the parish; and that those officers having examined the same, and not finding redress, may apply to persons to be appointed ...
— Essays on Mankind and Political Arithmetic • Sir William Petty

... then gazed steadfastly in the other direction; but she was not left long in peace. Tom's elbow began again in a minute: "He's looking right at you, all the time. You'd better turn round and bow to him." And the color would creep up in her cheeks, do all she could to prevent it, so that she had to lean across mamma and say something to her father, just so as not to bow to Mr. Davis, which would have been such a simple thing to do, ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Vol. XV., No. 85. January, 1875. • Various

... raised by virtue of the resolves of Congress of the 20th October, 1786, and the 3d of October, 1787, in order to protect the frontiers from the depredations of the hostile Indians, to prevent all intrusions on the public lands, and to facilitate the surveying and selling of the same for the purpose of reducing the ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 1 (of 4) of Volume 1: George Washington • James D. Richardson

... order to prevent its being seen by any of the wandering bands of patriots—alias soldiers, alias banditti—who might chance to be in the neighbourhood, the three travellers thus thrown unexpectedly together ate their supper in comparative silence, Lawrence and Pedro exchanging ...
— The Rover of the Andes - A Tale of Adventure on South America • R.M. Ballantyne

... ye said of Peg Tatem, Cap'n Gray, and I don't like it," she said in a tone low enough to prevent being overheard by the girls, who were preparing for bed. "Peg must have been mad 'bout somethin' and I reckon it would be healthy for us to git out of here in the mornin' and camp as far away from Forty-three as we kin. What do ...
— Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders in the Great North Woods • Jessie Graham Flower

... and Bremen, were to a great extent built with money furnished by the dyestuff manufacturers, who hoped that by sending dyestuffs in this way to America they could prevent the development of the industry there. I had many negotiations with the Foreign Office with reference to this ...
— My Four Years in Germany • James W. Gerard

... clung desperately to the thought of all the injuries, real or pretended, which the English had inflicted upon his people. He dared not let himself think of the unoffending settlers trustfully sleeping in their homes. He strove to work himself up to some sort of martial ardor that might prevent him feeling like an assassin. Presently the rippling of the Kenneticook made itself heard on the quiet night, and then the dim outlines of the lonely and doomed hamlet ...
— The Raid From Beausejour; And How The Carter Boys Lifted The Mortgage • Charles G. D. Roberts

... painted on a canvas. Or no, the picture he stared at was not on canvas, but on the glossy, varnished panel of a luxurious sleeping-car. He shook his head angrily and blinked his eyes again and again, to prevent their seeing, seated together in the open window above this panel, the two people he knew were there, gloved and habited for the night's journey, waiting for the ...
— The Damnation of Theron Ware • Harold Frederic

... following directions must be attended to: Begin at the left hand, and work from left to right, when not otherwise directed, as in reverse rows. Before cutting off the braid run a few stitches across it to prevent it widening. Joins should be avoided, but when a join is indispensable, stitch the braid together, open and turn back the ends, and stitch each portion down separately. When passing the thread from one part ...
— Beeton's Book of Needlework • Isabella Beeton

... language. As I have said elsewhere, it is at this point that this science parts company with the natural sciences. "If the chemist compounds two pure simple elements, there can be but one result, and no power of the chemist can prevent it. But the minds of men do act upon the sounds which they produce. The result is that, when this happens, the phonetic law which would have acted in the case is stopped, and this particular form enters on the same course of development as other forms to which it does not belong." ...
— Darwin and Modern Science • A.C. Seward and Others

... welfare of humanity his business;" on the other, because he, and not the Christian, has the true "enjoyment" of the present life. It might be difficult to prove either of these convenient assumptions, or to show that there is anything in Christianity to prevent, anything in Atheism to promote, the care of humanity on the one hand, or the enjoyment of life on the other. On the contrary, all experience testifies that Religion is the only sure spring of philanthropy, and that, on the whole, none have a sweeter enjoyment of the present life than those ...
— Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws • James Buchanan

... political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has ...
— The 2004 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency

... Their ascetics take stringent precautions to avoid killing the smallest creature: they strain their drinking water, sweep the ground before them with a broom as they walk and wear a veil over their mouths. Even in the shops of the laity lamps are carefully screened to prevent insects ...
— Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. (of 3) - An Historical Sketch • Charles Eliot

... squarely in front of her, "I know I've no right to hope for anything—no right to speak, even, when you know me so little; but, by Heaven, I can't endure to see you grinding out your life in this way, when there's even a chance that you will let me prevent it. You flower of a girl, you! Oh, Lena, I love you—I ...
— Jewel Weed • Alice Ames Winter

... player made the kick-off he calculated that the rushers on his side could reach the ball in time to prevent the enemy making much headway with it, and the enemy calculated to interfere in all lawful ways with the kick-off's rushers. If the enemy who holds the ball starts for a run, the men on ...
— Healthful Sports for Boys • Alfred Rochefort

... went on as happily as Cecilia could have desired; every morning they rode or booted to Old Forest to see what was doing. The roof was rather hastily taken off; Lady Cecilia hurried forward that measure, aware that it would prevent the possibility of any of the ladies of the family coming there for some time. Delay was all she wanted, and she would now, as she promised herself, leave the rest to time. She would never interfere further in word or look, especially ...
— Helen • Maria Edgeworth

... produced a great confusion and alarm. Two passengers, who were inside the mail, got out and ran into the house. The horse kicked and plunged violently; and it was with difficulty the driver could prevent the coach from being overturned. It was soon observed by the coachman and guard, by the light of the lamps, that the animal which had seized the horse was a huge lioness. A large mastiff dog came up and attacked her fiercely, on which ...
— Stories about the Instinct of Animals, Their Characters, and Habits • Thomas Bingley

... when Don John was informed that Rubens was coming in the style of a prince to see him, it was wholly foreign to his plan; he was a great lover of painting, and had wished to see him as an artist. He therefore determined to prevent the visit. ...
— Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8) • Various

... recent times to guarantee the neutrality of small frontier States like Belgium which lie at the mercy of their greater neighbours, a practice intended not only to preserve the integrity of such States but also to prevent the frequent occurrence of war by closing, as it were, the military gate between the hostile countries.[1] It remains to be seen whether the violation of these principles by Germany has the effect of strengthening them in ...
— The War and Democracy • R.W. Seton-Watson, J. Dover Wilson, Alfred E. Zimmern,

... playing. And she was perfectly satisfied that it should be so, for by this means she occasionally got a pleasant word from Julia. She, however, often wished that Mr. Wilmot could be constantly with her sister, for his presence in the house did not prevent her from expending her wrath upon ...
— Tempest and Sunshine • Mary J. Holmes

... in their outward man for fear of punishment. We pray for you and wish you prosperity in every way, hoped that the Lord would have given you so much light and love there, that you might have been eyes to God's people here, and not to practise those courses in wilderness which you went so far to prevent. These rigid ways have laid you very low in the hearts ...
— Unitarianism in America • George Willis Cooke

... formative stage, and that, millions of years hence, it may become an incrusted and habitable globe, we shall, at least, follow the analogy of what we believe to have been the history of the earth, except that Saturn's immense distance from the sun will always prevent it from receiving an amount of solar radiation consistent with our ideas of what is required by a living world. Of course, since one can imagine what he chooses, it is possible to suppose inhabitants suited to existence in a world composed only of whirling ...
— Other Worlds - Their Nature, Possibilities and Habitability in the Light of the Latest Discoveries • Garrett P. Serviss

... best to prevent the Revolutionary War, but he couldn't do it. Patrick Henry had said that the war was inevitable, and had given it permission to come, and ...
— Comic History of the United States • Bill Nye

... I have long ceased to think on the subject—perhaps my first girlish misery was true, and there is in me something repulsive—something that would prevent any man's seeking me as a wife. Therefore, even if my own feelings could change, it is unlikely there will ever come any soothing after-tie to take away the memory ...
— Olive - A Novel • Dinah Maria Craik, (AKA Dinah Maria Mulock)

... committed upon the Author's labors, both literary and pictorial, by parties in London as well as in the country; but he may be allowed however to remark, that some of the most common facts and delineations are strangely perverted from the Truth in their new dress,—however artfully disguised to prevent ...
— Brannon's Picture of The Isle of Wight • George Brannon

... Tansy Cake is made of grated Bread, Eggs, Cream, Nutmeg, Ginger, mixt together and Fried in a Pan with Butter, with green Wheat and Tansy stamped. R. Holme. 'To prevent being Bug-bitten. Put a sprig or two of tansey at the bed head, or as near the pillow as the smell may be agreeable.' T. Cosnett's ...
— Early English Meals and Manners • Various

... he could to prevent the affair from becoming public. He attempted to bribe Mrs. Morony by presenting her with the torn mantle; but she accepted the gift, and then preferred her complaint. He bribed the policemen, also; but, nevertheless, the matter got into the newspaper reports. The daily Jupiter, of course, ...
— The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson - By One of the Firm • Anthony Trollope

... raise the chicks near the house. The fox would be clever who would not leave me enough to buy one pig. A pig would fatten at the cost of a little bran, and when he had grown a fair size I should make a bargain of him for a good round sum. And then, considering the price he will fetch, what is to prevent my putting into our stable a cow and a calf? I can fancy how the calf will frisk about among the sheep!" Thereupon Perrette herself frisked for joy, transported with the picture of her affluence. Over toppled the milk! Adieu to calf and cow and pig ...
— The Original Fables of La Fontaine - Rendered into English Prose by Fredk. Colin Tilney • Jean de la Fontaine

... closes and the small connecting pipes are instantly filled with compressed air; the steam valve automatically opens, and the compression goes on in the regular way. Another function of this device is to prevent the compressor from stopping or getting on the center. Direct-acting compressors are liable to center when doing work at ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 799, April 25, 1891 • Various

... three years conducting a Jewish Discussion Group, led by Rabbi Marvin Nathan of this city, which has proved very popular. The group meets at the noon hour and attracts also non-Menorah men, women students, and liberal-minded non-Jews. This year in order to accommodate the students whose schedules prevent their attending this group, we expect to institute another to be conducted either like the present or in such a way as to utilize the services of the Rabbis and other ...
— The Menorah Journal, Volume 1, 1915 • Various

... face of the Reverend Edward Fareforth Furlong began to wear a sad and weary look that had never been seen on it before. He watched the congregation drifting from St. Asaph's to St. Osoph's and was powerless to prevent it. His sadness reached its climax one bright afternoon in the late summer, when he noticed that even his episcopal blackbirds were leaving his elms and moving westward to the spruce trees ...
— Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich • Stephen Leacock

... apparent—not real. You have presumed to enter British territory with an armed force. Where is your authority for this invasion? Where are the extradition papers which warrant the arrest of this man? And what assurance have you that I cannot bring an armed force about you that will prevent your return ...
— Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar • Edgar Rice Burroughs

... songs thou dost prevent, Sets hundred notes unto thy feathered crew, So each one tunes his pretty instrument, And, warbling out the old, begins the new. And thus they pass their youth in summer season, Then follow thee unto a better region, Where winter's never felt ...
— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier

... respect for the young lady, but he is afraid of Christine, who has his dangerous secrets in her keeping. His emotional callousness is sufficient to prevent the night's happenings from exercising a disturbing influence on his plans for the future. Having at once the slave's brutality and the master's lack of squeamishness, he can see blood without fainting, and he can also bend his back under a mishap until able to throw it off. For this reason ...
— Plays by August Strindberg, Second series • August Strindberg

... be heard several miles away. Great difficulty was found at first in stopping the flow when necessary by capping or gagging the wells, but after a time a sliding valve-cap was invented, capable of checking the flow of the most violent well. In order to prevent the enormous pressure from bursting the pipe and tearing up the ground, as soon as the pipe has been sunk part way the earth is excavated around it and the excavation is filled ...
— Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania • Jewett Castello Gilson

... king many difficulties. This was a year of misfortunes for him. The Count of Anjou, the king of France, the Count of Flanders, each in turn invaded some part of Normandy, and gained advantages which Henry could not prevent. Baldwin of Flanders, however, returned home with a wound from an arrow, of which he shortly died. In the spring of this year Queen Matilda died, praised by the monastic chroniclers to the last for her ...
— The History of England From the Norman Conquest - to the Death of John (1066-1216) • George Burton Adams

... tried to prevent communication with us to-night! He is playing for time. Depend on it, Petrie, the hour of his departure draws near and he is afraid of being ...
— The Hand Of Fu-Manchu - Being a New Phase in the Activities of Fu-Manchu, the Devil Doctor • Sax Rohmer

... vigorously fought off attacks and fell only when surrounded, while the former for a long time kept the wall safe, so that it was not captured till all of them had perished in sallies. So great was the total loss of Romans on both sides that the victors, at a loss how to wall in the city to prevent any running away in the night, actually heaped up the bodies ...
— Dio's Rome • Cassius Dio

... not repeat here. But notwithstanding my brief and anxiety, the hunger which began to make itself felt, and the thirst which tormented me, and the hardness of the boards on which I lay, did not prevent exhausted nature from reasserting her rights; ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

... Kaffir was digging a grave for a Zulu woman who had died in childbed. In the river beyond soldiers were bathing, Zulus were soaping themselves white, and one of the Liverpool Mounted Infantry was trying to prevent his horse rolling in ...
— Ladysmith - The Diary of a Siege • H. W. Nevinson

... Henry should be called. In order to intimidate him, and thus to prevent him from speaking with freedom and boldness to her dying son, she ordered him to be brought through the vaults of the castle, between a double line of armed guards. Henry, as he descended into those gloomy dungeons, and saw the glittering arms of the soldiers, felt that the hour for his assassination ...
— Henry IV, Makers of History • John S. C. Abbott

... he sank to the earth, lying so still that anyone a yard away could not have heard him breathe. Two warriors stood under the boughs of an oak and they were looking in the direction of the hollow. He had no doubt they were watchers, posted there to prevent the flight of the besieged in that direction, and he was shaken with silent laughter at this spectacle of men who stood guard that none might pass, when there was none to pass. He was already having his revenge upon them for ...
— The Eyes of the Woods - A story of the Ancient Wilderness • Joseph A. Altsheler

... on me like a gleam of light! I had read them in the Report of the Trial—in the evidence of the sheriff's officer. Miserrimus Dexter had spoken in those very terms when he had tried vainly to prevent the men from seizing my husband's papers, and when the men had pushed his chair out of the room. There was no doubt now of what his memory was busy with. The mystery at Gleninch! His last backward flight of thought circled feebly and more feebly nearer and nearer ...
— The Law and the Lady • Wilkie Collins

... startled glances, for it showed very plainly that the Priest Captain—to whom the messenger telling of our coming into the valley had been sent before any of these people had seen Pablo mounted upon El Sabio's back—had anticipated this sign of the fulfilment of the prophecy and had given orders to prevent it. Luckily, the celerity with which Pablo had executed my quick order to mount had saved the day for us; and even more than saved it, for as we passed through the crowd, on our way from the water-side into the city, I caught here and ...
— The Aztec Treasure-House • Thomas Allibone Janvier

... unjoint. His teeth snapped, he bit his tongue, his heels rattled upon the floor. Bob seemed bent upon shaking the bones from his flesh and the marrow from his bones; but, try as he would, Jim could not prevent the outrage. He struggled, he clawed, he kicked, he yelled; his arms threshed loosely, like the limber appendages ...
— The Auction Block • Rex Beach

... is not helped by any great use of this variety. A oneness of quality throughout the work is best suited to exhibit it. Masters of tone, like Whistler, preserve this oneness of quality very carefully in their work, relying chiefly on the grain of a rough canvas to give the necessary variety and prevent a deadness in the quality ...
— The Practice and Science Of Drawing • Harold Speed

... out of the room! He knew that Targo and his men would force their way in very soon. He could not prevent them. But it would take time. The Very Young Man remembered that now he had time to take the chemicals. He put his hand to his armpit and felt the pouch that held the drug. He wondered which to take. The ceiling was very high; but to fight in ...
— The Girl in the Golden Atom • Raymond King Cummings

... prevent the enemy from besieging the town and castle of Hesdin also, sent thither MM. le Duc de Bouillon, le Duc Horace, le Marquis de Villars, and a number of captains, and about eighteen hundred soldiers: ...
— The Harvard Classics Volume 38 - Scientific Papers (Physiology, Medicine, Surgery, Geology) • Various

... may bring at once. Thus duelling may be considered as a necessary evil, arising out of our wickedness; a crime in itself rare in occurrence, but which prevents others of equal magnitude from occurring every day; and until the world is reformed, nothing can prevent it. Men will ever be governed by the estimation of the world: and until the whole world decide against duelling—until it has become the usage to offer the other cheek upon the first having been smitten, then, and not till then, will ...
— Newton Forster - The Merchant Service • Captain Frederick Marryat

... think?" came from Dick. "I think he is going to sail around to the other side of the isle. Probably he has an idea of consulting with Sid Merrick. Then, if Merrick's offer suits him, he will do all he can to prevent us from ...
— The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle - or The Strange Cruise of the Steam Yacht. • Edward Stratemeyer (AKA Arthur M. Winfield)

... is nearly always a wind blowing in from the coast; it blows down the lakes and produces quite a heavy swell. This would not prevent the canoes going with the decks on, but, as we had to land every mile or so, the rollers breaking on the generally flat beach proved very troublesome. On this account I found I could not average more than ten miles per day on the lakes, little more than ...
— Klondyke Nuggets - A Brief Description of the Great Gold Regions in the Northwest • Joseph Ladue

... many merchants who go divide into various companies, and each of these must engage a number of men on wages, hiring them for April and half of May. Of all the produce they have first to pay the King, as his royalty, the tenth part. And they must also pay those men who charm the great fishes, to prevent them from injuring the divers whilst engaged in seeking pearls under water, one twentieth part of all that they take. These fish-charmers are termed Abraiaman; and their charm holds good for that day only, for at night they dissolve ...
— The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 2 • Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa

... and said: Brother, this is well thought of indeed, and I marvel that I did not prevent thee; and I am thine to live and die with thee. And the adventure is nought unlikely; for if we have lost a captain they have lost their head devil, and their head little devil; moreover, the good men ...
— The Water of the Wondrous Isles • William Morris

... chargers, to give them food, to lie down themselves for a brief repose on the turf, that they might be strengthened and cheered for the work of the morning, all this did not occupy much time; and if their slumbers were brief and troubled, it did not prevent their rising with, alacrity at the first peep of day to polish their arms, look to the sharpening of their swords and spears, share the rude huntsman's meal, and mount and ride with the ...
— The Days of Bruce Vol 1 - A Story from Scottish History • Grace Aguilar

... perfection on quince, the dwarf tree is peculiarly adapted to planting on small home grounds, and is often used as a boundary plant, or to serve the purpose of a screen. These dwarf trees should be set deep—4 to 6 inches below the union—to prevent the stock from growing. Dwarf trees may be set as near together as 10 to 16 feet, while the standard or tall-growing pears should be set 18 to 25 feet apart. Trees are planted when two or three ...
— Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) • L. H. Bailey

... to say, "We do not think so of all Englishmen;" but she held her tongue. Either intentionally, or by accident, Mr. Percy had stood, during this short dialogue, in such a manner as to prevent her from following Mrs. Bellairs when she turned back from the rose-bed; and, in spite of her sauciness, she was too shy to make any effort to pass. He moved a little now, and she had half escaped, when he said, ...
— A Canadian Heroine, Volume 1 - A Novel • Mrs. Harry Coghill

... charm-bag and rubbed it on the point of the arrow until the latter was covered with a thick, black coat, resembling old beeswax. A cap of a joint of slender bamboo was fitted over the end of the missile to prevent the rain from washing away the supposed poison, and it was ready to be delivered ...
— The Black Phantom • Leo Edward Miller

... wife—she will soon get tired of her present position. If, by-and-bye, there should be a divorce, there would be nothing to prevent our marrying. ...
— The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith • Arthur Wing Pinero

... understood her intentions or could prevent her rashness she flung her arms about his neck ...
— Blow The Man Down - A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 • Holman Day

... still sitting, and he looked up into de Lescure's face with thankful admiration. "Ah! M. de Lescure, with such guides as you, with such a heart, such courage as yours, no walls shall hinder us, no enemies prevent us." ...
— La Vendee • Anthony Trollope

... was in readiness, and, at a word, the water was poured—bucketful after bucketful—down the tunnels. Then a big brother sprang to the horses' heads to prevent their running when the fight began, another jumped into the wagon to refill the pails and hand them down, and the dogs, leaping excitedly, closed about the holes. The little girl watched breathlessly and clung fast ...
— The Biography of a Prairie Girl • Eleanor Gates

... threes I dunno what they'd do; for out of it's skin they make houses, an' boats, an' pots to bile vittles, an' candles to burn, an' ornaments like what Mr. Robert has above.' A pause, as he watched the bark turned over the ribs, and wedge-shaped pieces cut out to prevent awkward foldings near the gunwale—all carried on in solemn silence. 'Well, there's no manner of doubt but savages are great intirely at houldin' their tongues; sure, may be it's no wondher, an' their langidge the quare ...
— Cedar Creek - From the Shanty to the Settlement • Elizabeth Hely Walshe

... the divine influence, they fell upon one another with missile weapons and when these were expended, they had recourse to the rushes growing high. The rushes in their hands became like thunderbolts and they struck one another with them fatal blows. Krishna interposed to prevent them but they thought that he was taking part with each severally, and continued the conflict. Krishna then, enraged, took up a handful of rushes to destroy them, and the rushes became a club of iron and with this he slew many ...
— The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry • W. G. Archer

... abruptness in the question which for the moment struck Harry dumb. How was he to say what he thought about Mountjoy Scarborough, even though he should have no feeling to prevent him from expressing the truth? He knew, or thought that he knew, Mountjoy Scarborough to be a thorough blackguard; one whom no sense of honesty kept from spending money, and who was now a party ...
— Mr. Scarborough's Family • Anthony Trollope

... so afraid of war, that they are doing all that is possible to prevent Greece from taking any action ...
— The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 18, March 11, 1897 - A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls • Various

... he had known, all the bad places he had gone, were searched out and published by the detectives and the reporters. To blacken Stephen Coburn's repute so horribly that the jurors would feel it their inescapable duty to scavenge him from the offended earth, that was the effort of the prosecution. To prevent that blackening was one of the most vital and one of the most costly features of the defense. To deny the murder and tear down the web of circumstantial evidence as fast as the State could ...
— In a Little Town • Rupert Hughes

... repentant young Spring, and lavished all its gifts with a prodigal hand; its breezes were as coaxing as June; its head burned like the first of July; its sunshine was as rich and mellow as the sunshine of August. Spring had acknowledged its debt and the overdue interest, and hoped to prevent any unpleasantness by paying all arrears and a lump sum in advance; and doing it all with such a flourish of good fellowship that the memory of its past delinquency would ...
— Purple Springs • Nellie L. McClung

... apparently collected its force in our vicinity; for there were frequent and violent alterations in the direction of the wind; and the exceeding density of the clouds (which hung so low as to press upon the turrets of the house) did not prevent our perceiving the life-like velocity with which they flew careering from all points against each other, without passing away into the distance. I say that even their exceeding density did not prevent our perceiving this; yet we had no glimpse of the moon or stars, nor was ...
— Selections From Poe • J. Montgomery Gambrill

... before this period she had become very deaf; but though she felt it to be a great trial, it made scarcely any perceptible abatement of her cheerfulness; nor did she allow it to prevent her attendance upon the house of God. In proportion as she was shut out from the pleasures of conversation, she seemed to find an increasing delight in secret devotion. "Let us call those our golden hours," she says in a letter to a friend, "that are spent with God. May we ...
— The Baptist Magazine, Vol. 27, January, 1835 • Various

... uniform shows I am not a franc tireur; and so will prevent my being hung, and you having your house burnt over your head. Besides which, I should be entitled to be treated as an officer. My uniform is the best ...
— The Young Franc Tireurs - And Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War • G. A. Henty

... be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it ...
— Our Government: Local, State, and National: Idaho Edition • J.A. James

... families, whom the want of work often reduces to the most cruel extremities. It is not a degrading alms which he gives to his brothers but a gratuitous loan which he offers. May this loan, as he hopes, prevent them often from resorting to those cruel pledges which they are forced to make (while awaiting the return of work), for the purpose of sustaining a family of which they are the sole support. The only guarantee for this loan which he demands from his brothers is their oath and honor. ...
— Mysteries of Paris, V3 • Eugene Sue

... to such as list to hear and learne, and every man shall have liberty to utter and declare his minde and knowledge to the comfort and consolation of the Kirk."[211] Then after appointing some prudent regulations to prevent this liberty of prophesying from encroaching on the province of the regular ministry of the church, or degenerating into a school for the encouragement of rash speculation instead of ministering to the comfort and godly edifying of the brethren, directions are given that ...
— The Scottish Reformation - Its Epochs, Episodes, Leaders, and Distinctive Characteristics • Alexander F. Mitchell

... appear not unamiable to the persons who surround them. Maroncelli, on his crutches, no longer possessed the same activity, and was fearful of not doing everything for me of which I stood in need. It was in fact the case, but I did all to prevent his being made sensible of it. Even when he had recovered his strength he laboured under many inconveniences. He complained, like most others after a similar operation, of acute pains in the nerves, and imagined that the part removed was still with him. Sometimes it was the toe, sometimes the ...
— My Ten Years' Imprisonment • Silvio Pellico

... attorney, who had recognised his voice from above stairs, could order the servant to admit him, he had rushed up the staircase, and entered the drawing-room pale and breathless. Having closed the door, to prevent being overheard, he sank into a chair, and said, ...
— The Pickwick Papers • Charles Dickens

... exactly as above, but should be rather moister, and have more butter added to prevent their being too dry. Have quantity required of rough puff pastry. [Footnote: See Pastry.] Roll out and divide into 9 or 10 4-inch squares. Put a little sausage meat in centre, wet the edges and fold over. Press the edges lightly together ...
— Reform Cookery Book (4th edition) - Up-To-Date Health Cookery for the Twentieth Century. • Mrs. Mill

... hastening to the door, when a second knock, louder than the first, was heard. A third knock followed just as he was withdrawing the bolt, but on looking out not a single person was to be seen, though it was clear moonlight, and nothing to prevent him seeing a long way off. Next post brought a letter informing him that a near relation in London had died just at the time the knocking alarmed him and his family, for they too heard the startling sounds. The disturbed persons firmly believed that, in one ...
— The Mysteries of All Nations • James Grant

... hurriedly, so as to prevent further arguments of an unprofitable kind. "I was at Genoa with my yacht, and there stopped on shore ...
— The Green Mummy • Fergus Hume

... of a kind of crown or framework of iron, which was locked upon the head, and was armed in front with a gag, a plate, or a sharp cutting knife or point, which was placed in the poor woman's mouth so as to prevent her moving her tongue, or it was so placed that if she moved it or attempted to speak, the tongue was cut in a most frightful manner. With this cage upon her head, and with the gag firmly pressed and locked against ...
— The Olden Time Series, Vol. 5: Some Strange and Curious Punishments • Henry M. Brooks

... not blame Findlater. The cut certainly appeared trifling, it was not bad enough to prevent Stott from bowling, and Hampdenshire seemed powerless on that wicket without him. It is very easy to distribute blame after the event, but most people would have done what Findlater ...
— The Wonder • J. D. Beresford

... obtain free quarters from his bachelor acquaintances. It is a hospitable country, but there were men round Lander's who, when they went away to work in far-off lumber camps, as they sometimes did, nailed up their doors and windows to prevent ...
— Masters of the Wheat-Lands • Harold Bindloss

... was where I was established, in a hall bedroom on the top floor—a hall bedroom so form-fitting and cozy that when I went to bed I always opened the transom to prevent a feeling of closeness across the chest. If I had as many as three callers in my room of an evening and one of them got up to go first, the others had to sit quietly while he was picking out his own legs. But up to the time I speak of I ...
— Cobb's Bill-of-Fare • Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb

... well laid; so well laid that McDowell's mistake in not stopping the train soon enough did not prevent their being carried out successfully. The sheriff of Malden County had been told what was expected of him, and he was waiting on the platform of the Sawyerville station when No. 14 pulled in. There had been no warning, ...
— The Short Line War • Merwin-Webster

... many who know this, but believe that it is not in the power of human institutions to prevent this misery. They see the effect, but regard the causes as inseparable from the ...
— Colloquies on Society • Robert Southey

... lovely thoughts was this: he told me that when little children began to walk, Jesus Christ held them by the hand to teach them; and that if they fell, he put his hand between their heads and the ground to prevent their being hurt. Then, as if he saw this proceeding, he would look up, and with the fondest expression say, "Good Jesus Christ, Jack very much loves Jesus Christ." I hope you are not tired of Jack; I have much to tell about him. God made me the humble ...
— Personal Recollections • Charlotte Elizabeth

... cannon before the entrance of the temple to destroy the image of the god Mahadeo. The Brahmins, greatly indignant at this, instigated the people to revolt, and they hastened in numerous crowds to the temple. The English, to prevent a disturbance, said to the people: "If your god is stronger than the Christian God, the balls will not hurt him; but if not, he will be broken to pieces." Of course; the latter was the result. The Brahmins, however, did not give up their cause, but declared that ...
— A Woman's Journey Round the World • Ida Pfeiffer

... sermon and before dinner. We each had to have a thimble full of this brandy or he did not enjoy it himself. The drink was certainly not the best thing for us, but the quantity was small enough to prevent disastrous consequences. My father, however, forbade this kind of Sunday treat when he came to find out about it. This troubled the good old man exceedingly, but did not prevent him, I am forced to add, from having us drink with him again; only this took place quite ...
— The German Classics of The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Vol. IX - Friedrich Hebbel and Otto Ludwig • Various

... in alliance with sharpers, or, at least, that he was a sleeping partner in the firm, his biographer admits; but it is urged on his behalf that he was the most generous of winners, and again and again interfered to prevent the ruin of some gambler by whose folly he would himself have profited. His constant charity was well known; the money so lightly come by was at the disposal of any one who could prefer a piteous tale. Moreover he made no scruple about exacting from others that charity ...
— Goldsmith - English Men of Letters Series • William Black

... into me a love of truth, and in this she was indefatigable. When I did wrong, it was not the fault I had committed which caused her concern; it was the fear that I should deny it, which worried and alarmed her. To prevent this, the old lady had a curious method—she dreamed for my benefit. If I had done wrong, and she suspected me, she would not accuse me until she had made such inquiries as convinced her that I was the guilty person; ...
— Valerie • Frederick Marryat

... The platform below the cross. A bier, empty, spread with a winding-sheet, an old man arranging it at the head. The dead Saviour being slipped down from the cross on a sheet, two men on a ladder letting the body down, others below receiving it, trying to prevent the arm from trailing. Immense solemnity, carefulness, hushedness. A distant illuminated palace blazes out in the night. One feels that they ...
— Renaissance Fancies and Studies - Being a Sequel to Euphorion • Violet Paget (AKA Vernon Lee)

... unlocking a cupboard, produced about two ounces of his garden tobacco. His object was only too plain. Having just begun a third cigar he could not be expected to try the tobacco at present, but there was nothing to prevent my trying it. I regarded Pettigrew rather contemptuously, and then I looked with much interest at the tobacco. It was of an inky color. When I looked up I caught Pettigrew's eye on me. He withdrew it hurriedly, but soon afterward I saw him looking ...
— My Lady Nicotine - A Study in Smoke • J. M. Barrie

... effective in the destruction of my happiness and peace of mind. The worthy couple, with a prophetic eye, saw that I was destined to become, in future years, somewhat of a gourmand, unless care should be taken to prevent such a melancholy fate; therefore, actuated by the best motives, and in order to teach me the luxury of abstinence, they began by slow but sure degrees to starve me. Good people, how I ...
— My Life: or the Adventures of Geo. Thompson - Being the Auto-Biography of an Author. Written by Himself. • George Thompson

... no rope with, which to make fast their boat to the shore and prevent it from being dashed to pieces, they remained in it the whole night. Next day at dawn, sixteen weak, miserable and exhausted wretches, the sad remains of forty-seven who had originally taken refuge in the large boat, went on shore and laid themselves down in the snow. ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1 • Robert Kerr

... do as the rest. But I believe the contrary; and yet I told him I never go to the Duke alone, as others do, to talk of my own services. However, I will make use of his council, and take some course to prevent having the single ill-will of the office. Mr. Grant showed me letters of Sir William Petty's, wherein he says, that his vessel which he hath built upon two keeles, (a modell whereof, built for the King, he showed me) hath this month won a wager of 50l. in sailing ...
— The Diary of Samuel Pepys • Samuel Pepys

... snapped his fingers, and laughed in scorn. Nothing, he swore, but death should part him from the young lady. On the next day his father came to him alone and plied him with entreaties, but he was as obdurate as before. He would have her; nothing should prevent him. He cocked his hat and walked out of the lodge-gate, as his father, quite beaten by the young man's obstinacy, with haggard face and tearful eyes, went his own way into town. He was not very angry himself: in the course ...
— The Newcomes • William Makepeace Thackeray

... conversation with the old cat, whose curiosity, being excited by so novel an appearance, inclined her to pat his head repeatedly with her fore foot, with her claws, however, sheathed, and not in anger, but in the way of philosophic inquiry and examination. To prevent her falling a victim to so laudable an exercise of her talents, I interposed in a moment with the hoe, and performed on him an act of decapitation which, though not immediately mortal, proved so in ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol IX. • Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton

... And the Abbess gained assurance, That her lawsuit would be taken Into prompt consideration. Then to Margaretta turning. Said the Pope: "None of the pilgrims Ever leave Rome without comfort; So I, as the soul's physician, Must prevent another fainting." And he whispered to a servant: "Go and ...
— The Trumpeter of Saekkingen - A Song from the Upper Rhine. • Joseph Victor von Scheffel

... it is impossible to avoid, just as we cannot avoid perceiving that the sea appears to be higher at a distance than it is near the shore, because we see the former by means of higher rays than the latter, or, which is a still stronger case, as even the astronomer cannot prevent himself from seeing the moon larger at its rising than some time afterwards, although he is not ...
— The Critique of Pure Reason • Immanuel Kant

... shot in the woods, to the splendid turn-outs of the nobles with their handsome fur wraps, their coachmen in the national costume, and horses covered with brown, blue, or violet nets almost touching the ground, to prevent the snow from being thrown up from the animals' hoofs into the faces of those in the sledge. The harness was in most cases more or less decorated with bells, which gaily tinkled in the still air as the sledges dashed along. Most struck was Godfrey with the vehicles of the nobles who adhered to ...
— Condemned as a Nihilist - A Story of Escape from Siberia • George Alfred Henty

... want and perfect idleness for years: tho sometimes if Books could be obtained we made out to read: if paper, pen, and ink could be had we wrote. Also to prevent becoming too feeble we exercised our bodies by playing fives, throwing long bullets, wrestling, running, jumping, and other athletick exercises, in all of which your Father fully participated. Being all nearly on the same footing as to Clothing and pocket money ...
— American Prisoners of the Revolution • Danske Dandridge

... danger and their property destroyed and themselves ruined; where our trading vessels are liable to seizure and are seized at our very door by war ships of a foreign nation; the expeditions of filibustering that we are powerless to prevent altogether, and the irritating questions and entanglements thus arising—all these and others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained relations, are a constant menace to our peace and compel us to keep on a semi war footing ...
— Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents • William McKinley

... was not as she had dreamed, nevertheless fear entered into her by reason of the dream she had seen. Wherefore, Gabriotto presently desiring to visit her that next night, she studied as most she might to prevent his coming; however, seeing his desire and so he might not misdoubt him of otherwhat, she received him in the garden and having gathered great store of roses, white and red (for that it was the season), she went ...
— The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio • Giovanni Boccaccio

... to remember that he knew something which Bristles would give considerable to hear; and it also pained him to think that his promise to Miss Muster would prevent him from telling, until she gave ...
— Fred Fenton on the Crew - or, The Young Oarsmen of Riverport School • Allen Chapman

... department was being forced out of School Street. The wall which had fallen had entirely blocked the narrow passage, and the heat from the blazing ruin was so intense that no man could even obliquely face it. It was also clear that a hard struggle would be necessary to prevent the fire from ...
— White Ashes • Sidney R. Kennedy and Alden C. Noble

... Ambassador to Great Britain. Born 1860; Attache, London, 1885; Counsellor Embassy, Vienna; Foreign Office, Berlin; Ambassador to London, 1912. Member Roman Catholic party. Did all he could to prevent rupture between Great Britain and Germany. Was very popular ...
— The Story of the Great War, Volume I (of 8) - Introductions; Special Articles; Causes of War; Diplomatic and State Papers • Various



Words linked to "Prevent" :   hinder, prevention, shut out, keep away, bilk, foreclose, forefend, block, avoid, defend, forfend, make unnecessary, stymie, head off, spoil, forestall, blank, shut, forbid, ward off, frustrate, obviate, fend off, debar, halt, kibosh, preventive, deflect, stave off, scotch, avert, foil, wash out, obstruct, exclude, stymy, embarrass, let, queer, baffle, hold, cross, stop, thwart, impede, keep out, rain out, blockade, save



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