prohibition

pro·hi·bi·tion   (prō'ə-bĭsh'ən)    n.   The act of prohibiting or the condition of being prohibited. A law, order, or decree that forbids something. The forbidding by law of the manufacture, transportation, sale, and possession of alcoholic beverages. Prohibition The period (1920-1933) during which the 18th Amendment forbidding the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was in force in the United States.

Prohibition [(proh-uh-bish-uhn)]

The outlawing of alcoholic beverages nationwide from 1920 to 1933, under an amendment to the Constitution. The amendment, enforced by the Volstead Act, was repealed by another amendment to the Constitution in 1933.

Note: Prohibition is often mentioned in discussions of how much social change can be brought about through law, because alcohol was widely, though illegally, produced and sold during Prohibition; it was served privately in the White House under President Warren Harding, for example.

Note: Many use the example of Prohibition to argue that more harm than good comes from the enactment of laws that are sure to be widely disobeyed.

Note: Some states and localities (called “dry”) had outlawed the production and sale of alcohol before the Prohibition amendment was adopted. The repealing amendment allowed individual states and localities to remain “dry,” and some did for many years.

prohibition 

Main Entry: pro·hi·bi·tion
Pronunciation: "prO-&-'bi-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : an extraordinary writ issued by a higher court commanding an inferior court to keep within its proper jurisdiction (as by ceasing a prosecution) b : an order to refrain or stop
2 a : something (as a law) that prohibits a certain act or procedure b cap : the period from 1920 to 1933 in the U.S. when the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic liquors was prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —pro·hib·i·tive /prO-'hi-b&-tiv/ adjective —pro·hib·i·tive·ly adverb —pro·hib·i·to·ry /-'hi-b&-"tOr-E/ adjective