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forestaller

 - 3 dictionary results

fore⋅stall

  [fohr-stawl, fawr-]
Use forestaller in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to prevent, hinder, or thwart by action in advance: to forestall a riot by deploying police.
2. to act beforehand with or get ahead of; anticipate.
3. to buy up (goods) in advance in order to increase the price when resold.
4. to prevent sales at (a fair, market, etc.) by buying up or diverting goods.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME forstallen, v. deriv. of forstalle, OE foresteall intervention (to defeat justice), waylaying. See fore-, stall 2

Related forms:
fore⋅stall⋅er, noun
fore⋅stall⋅ment, forestalment, noun

Synonyms:
1. preclude, obviate, intercept, obstruct. 2. prevent, avert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To forestaller
fore·stall   (fôr-stôl', fōr-)   
tr.v.   fore·stalled, fore·stall·ing, fore·stalls

  1. To delay, hinder, or prevent by taking precautionary measures beforehand. See Synonyms at prevent.

  2. To deal with or think of beforehand; anticipate.

  3. To prevent or hinder normal sales in (a market) by buying up merchandise, discouraging persons from bringing their goods to market, or encouraging an increase in prices in goods already on sale.


[Middle English forestallen, to waylay and rob, from forestal, highway robbery, ambush, from Old English foresteall : fore-, fore- + steall, position; see stel- in Indo-European roots.]
fore·stall'er n., fore·stall'ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

forestall 
O.E. foresteall "an ambush, a waylaying," from fore "before" + steall "standing position" (see stall (1)). Modern sense of "to anticipate and delay" is from 1585.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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