Inhibit vs. Prevent — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Inhibit and Prevent
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Compare with Definitions
Inhibit
To hold back; restrain
Barricades that inhibited the movement of the crowd.
A lack of knowledge that inhibited his inclination to ask questions.
Prevent
Keep (something) from happening
Action must be taken to prevent further accidents
Inhibit
To cause (a person) to behave in a restrained or self-conscious way
He felt inhibited by the presence of so many famous people.
Prevent
(of God) go before (someone) with spiritual guidance and help.
Inhibit
(Psychology) To suppress or restrain (behavior, an impulse, or a desire) consciously or unconsciously.
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Prevent
To keep from happening; avert
Took steps to prevent the strike.
Inhibit
(Chemistry) To prevent or decrease the rate of (a reaction).
Prevent
To keep (a person or thing) from doing something; impede
Prevented us from winning.
Prevented the disease from spreading.
Inhibit
(Biology) To decrease, limit, or block the action or function of (an enzyme or organ, for example).
Prevent
To anticipate or counter in advance.
Inhibit
To prohibit (an ecclesiastic) from performing clerical duties.
Prevent
To come before; precede.
Inhibit
(transitive) To hold in or hold back; to keep in check; restrain.
Inhibit someone's freedom
Inhibit someone's education
Prevent
To present an obstacle
There will be a picnic if nothing prevents.
Inhibit
(Philippines) To recuse.
Prevent
(transitive) To stop (an outcome); to keep from (doing something).
I brush my teeth regularly to prevent tooth decay.
Inhibit
To check; to hold back; to restrain; to hinder.
Their motions also are excited or inhibited . . . by the objects without them.
Prevent
To take preventative measures.
Inhibit
To forbid; to prohibit; to interdict.
All men were inhibited, by proclamation, at the dissolution, so much as to mention a Parliament.
Burial may not be inhibited or denied to any one.
Prevent
To come before; to precede.
Inhibit
To cause the rate of (a chemical or biochemical reaction) to proceed slower, or to halt; as, vitamin C inhibits oxidation; penicillins inhibit bacterial cell wall synthesis.
Prevent
To outdo, surpass.
Inhibit
To restrain (a behavior) by a mechanism involving conscious or unconscious motivations.
Prevent
To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
Inhibit
To put down by force or authority;
Suppress a nascent uprising
Stamp down on littering
Conquer one's desires
Prevent
To go before; to precede; hence, to go before as a guide; to direct.
We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us.
Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen.
Inhibit
Limit the range or extent of;
Contact between the young was inhibited by strict social customs
Prevent
To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
Their ready guilt preventing thy commands.
Prevent
To intercept; to hinder; to frustrate; to stop; to thwart.
Perhaps forestalling night prevented them.
Prevent
To come before the usual time.
Strawberries . . . will prevent and come early.
Prevent
Keep from happening or arising; have the effect of preventing;
My sense of tact forbids an honest answer
Prevent
Prevent from doing something or being in a certain state;
We must prevent the cancer from spreading
His snoring kept me from falling asleep
Keep the child from eating the marbles
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