verb, banned, ban⋅ning, noun | 1. | to prohibit, forbid, or bar; interdict: to ban nuclear weapons; The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime. |
| 2. | Archaic.
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| 3. | the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction. |
| 4. | informal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion: society's ban on racial discrimination. |
| 5. | Law.
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| 6. | Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication. |
| 7. | a malediction; curse. |

ban 1 (bān) tr.v. banned, ban·ning, bans
[Middle English bannen, to summon, banish, curse, from Old English bannan, to summon, and from Old Norse banna, to prohibit, curse; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
banning
in South Africa, an administrative action by which publications, organizations, or assemblies could be outlawed and suppressed and individual persons could be placed under severe restrictions of their freedom of travel, association, and speech. Banning was an important tool in the South African government's suppression of those opposed to its policy of apartheid.
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