forestall

verb
/fɔː(ɹ)ˈstɔːl//ˈfɔː(ɹ).stɔːl/

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”), equivalent to fore- + stall.

  1. inherited from foresteall
  2. inherited from forestallen

Definitions

  1. To prevent, delay or hinder something by taking precautionary or anticipatory measures

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

    • Fred forestalled disaster by his prompt action.
  2. To preclude or bar from happening, render impossible.

    • In French, an aspired h forestalls elision.
  3. To purchase the complete supply of a good, particularly foodstuffs, in order to charge a…

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

  4. + 5 more definitions
    1. To anticipate, to act foreseeingly.

      • What need a man forestall his date of grief, / And run to meet what he would most avoid?
    2. To deprive (with of).

      • All the better; may / This night forestall him of the coming day!
    3. To obstruct or stop up, as a road

      To obstruct or stop up, as a road; to stop the passage of a highway; to intercept on the road, as goods on the way to market.

    4. An ambush

      An ambush; plot; an interception; waylaying; rescue.

    5. Something situated or placed in front.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at forestall. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01forestall02anticipatory03anticipation04anticipating05anticipate06introduce07recommendation08endorsement09insurance

A definitional loop anchored at forestall. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at forestall

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA