forestall

fore·stall

(fôr-stôl′)

tr.v. fore·stalled, fore·stall·ing, fore·stalls

a. To delay, hinder, or prevent (an event, for example) by taking action beforehand: "rehabilitative care, where the goal is not so much to cure disease as it is to forestall further decline" (George Anders). See Synonyms at prevent.

b. To delay, hinder, or prevent (someone) from doing something by taking action beforehand.

2. To prevent or hinder normal sales in (a market), as by buying up merchandise.

[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.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

forestall

(fɔːˈstɔːl)

vb (tr)

1. to delay, stop, or guard against beforehand

2. to anticipate

3. (Commerce)

a. to prevent or hinder sales at (a market, etc) by buying up merchandise in advance, etc

b. to buy up (merchandise) for profitable resale. Compare corner²¹

[C14 forestallen to waylay, from Old English foresteall an ambush, from fore- in front of + steall place]

foreˈstaller n

foreˈstalment, foreˈstallment n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fore•stall

(foʊrˈstɔl, fɔr-)

v.t.

1. to prevent, hinder, or thwart by action in advance.

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.

[1350–1400; Middle English, v. derivative of forstalle, Old English foresteall intervention (to defeat justice), waylaying. See fore-, stall²]

fore•stall′er, n.

fore•stall′ment, forestal′ment, n.

forestall

Past participle: forestalled
Gerund: forestalling

Imperative
forestall
forestall

Present
I forestall
you forestall
he/she/it forestalls
we forestall
you forestall
they forestall

Preterite
I forestalled
you forestalled
he/she/it forestalled
we forestalled
you forestalled
they forestalled

Present Continuous
I am forestalling
you are forestalling
he/she/it is forestalling
we are forestalling
you are forestalling
they are forestalling

Present Perfect
I have forestalled
you have forestalled
he/she/it has forestalled
we have forestalled
you have forestalled
they have forestalled

Past Continuous
I was forestalling
you were forestalling
he/she/it was forestalling
we were forestalling
you were forestalling
they were forestalling

Past Perfect
I had forestalled
you had forestalled
he/she/it had forestalled
we had forestalled
you had forestalled
they had forestalled

Future
I will forestall
you will forestall
he/she/it will forestall
we will forestall
you will forestall
they will forestall

Future Perfect
I will have forestalled
you will have forestalled
he/she/it will have forestalled
we will have forestalled
you will have forestalled
they will have forestalled

Future Continuous
I will be forestalling
you will be forestalling
he/she/it will be forestalling
we will be forestalling
you will be forestalling
they will be forestalling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been forestalling
you have been forestalling
he/she/it has been forestalling
we have been forestalling
you have been forestalling
they have been forestalling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been forestalling
you will have been forestalling
he/she/it will have been forestalling
we will have been forestalling
you will have been forestalling
they will have been forestalling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been forestalling
you had been forestalling
he/she/it had been forestalling
we had been forestalling
you had been forestalling
they had been forestalling

Conditional
I would forestall
you would forestall
he/she/it would forestall
we would forestall
you would forestall
they would forestall

Past Conditional
I would have forestalled
you would have forestalled
he/she/it would have forestalled
we would have forestalled
you would have forestalled
they would have forestalled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Verb

forestall - keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"

make unnecessary, save - make unnecessary an expenditure or effort; "This will save money"; "I'll save you the trouble"; "This will save you a lot of time"

deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, avert, stave off, ward off, avoid, debar, obviate - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike"

frustrate, scotch, thwart, foil, baffle, bilk, cross, spoil - hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; "What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge"; "foil your opponent"

kibosh, stop, block, halt - stop from happening or developing; "Block his election"; "Halt the process"

forestall - act in advance of; deal with ahead of time

act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel"

forestall

verb prevent, stop, frustrate, anticipate, head off, parry, thwart, intercept, hinder, preclude, balk, circumvent, obviate, nip in the bud, provide against They had done little to forestall the attack.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

forestall

verb

To prohibit from occurring by advance planning or action:

Translations

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

forestall

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

forestall

[fɔːˈstɔːl] vt (anticipate, event, accident) → prevenire; (rival, competitor) → anticipare