forestall
/fɔ:'stɔ:l/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To act in advance of; to deal with ahead of time: To take action before an anticipated event or action by someone else, in order to prevent it or gain an advantage.
- To keep from happening or arising; to make impossible: To prevent something from occurring by taking preemptive measures.
Usage and Examples
Verb (Act in advance):
- The government's swift action helped to forestall a major economic crisis.
- She tried to forestall any criticism by announcing the changes early.
Verb (Prevent from happening):
- Regular maintenance can forestall major repairs.
- The treaty was designed to forestall future conflicts between the nations.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- Strategic Preemption: Often used in contexts of strategy, business, or diplomacy, where one party acts to neutralize a potential move by another.
- The company lowered prices to forestall competition from new market entrants.
- Anticipatory Problem-Solving: Implies not just prevention, but thoughtful anticipation and early intervention.
- By installing a backup generator, they forestalled any disruption during the power outage.
Variants and Related Words
- Forestaller (noun): A person who forestalls.
- Forestalling (noun/gerund): The act of forestalling.
- The forestalling of the attack saved countless lives.
Synonyms
- Preempt: To take action to prevent an event or to secure an advantage by acting first.
- Anticipate: To act as a precursor to; to foresee and deal with in advance.
- Prevent: To stop something from happening.
- Avert: To turn away or prevent something undesirable.
- Obviate: To remove a need or difficulty, often making something unnecessary.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "To forestall a question": To answer a question before it is asked.
- Let me forestall your question by explaining the budget first.
- "To forestall disaster": To take action to prevent a catastrophic event.
- The evacuation order was meant to forestall disaster.
Notes on Meaning
- The historical meaning related to "buying up goods to profit from resale" (engrossing) is now archaic but informs the modern sense of acting before others to secure an advantage.
- The word carries a connotation of cleverness or strategic thinking, not merely passive prevention. It involves proactive initiative.
Verb
- act in advance of; deal with ahead of time
- keep from happening or arising; make impossible
- My sense of tact forbids an honest answer
- Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project