0 past simple and past participle of prevent
1 to stop something from happening or someone from doing something:
[ + -ing verb ] His disability prevents him (from) driving.
She would go over the accident again and again in her mind, wishing that she could somehow have prevented it.
A block in the pipe was preventing the water from coming through.
The law has done little to prevent racial discrimination and inequality.
An inefficient tax system could thus have survived if political rigidities prevented a ruler from changing it.
An intending swimmer is prevented from entering the sea, because (it is reasonable to suppose) this person does not realize that the tides are dangerous.
Different perceptions of land claims and differing patterns of land use prevented the possibility of mutual accommodation.
