FORESTALL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Forestall

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/fɔrstˈɔl/ Listen

verb

Forestall v. t. (past & past part. forestalled; pres. part. forestalling)

1.

To take beforehand, or in advance; to anticipate. "What need a man forestall his date of grief, And run to meet what he would most avoid?"

2.

To take possession of, in advance of some one or something else, to the exclusion or detriment of the latter; to get ahead of; to preoccupy; also, to exclude, hinder, or prevent, by prior occupation, or by measures taken in advance. "An ugly serpent which forestalled their way." "But evermore those damsels did forestall Their furious encounter." "To be forestalled ere we come to fall." "Habit is a forestalled and obstinate judge."

3.

To deprive; with of. (R.) "All the better; may This night forestall him of the coming day!"

4.

(Eng. Law) To obstruct or stop up, as a way; to stop the passage of on highway; to intercept on the road, as goods on the way to market.

To forestall the market, to buy or contract for merchandise or provision on its way to market, with the intention of selling it again at a higher price; to dissuade persons from bringing their goods or provisions there; or to persuade them to enhance the price when there. This was an offense at law in England until 1844.

Synonyms: To anticipate; monopolize; engross.

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Etymology of 'Forestall'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Forestall" Quotes from Famous Books

... the Democratic party being favorable to tariff reduction, the Republicans must perforce raise the banner of high protection; but public opinion did not forestall the convention in naming the Republican standard-bearer. The convention met in Chicago. At first John Sherman of Ohio received 229 votes; Walter Q. Gresham of Indiana, 111; Chauncey M. Depew of New York, 99; and Russell A. Alger of Michigan, 84. Harrison began with 80; ...

— History of the United States, Volume 5 • E. Benjamin Andrews

... glitter, and the men avoid meeting each other's gaze. It is the moment of all moments, the most trying to the soldier, when he is expecting every instant a hurricane of bullets, and yet sees no one to avenge his anguish on or forestall in the deadly work. But they have been moving forward all the time, the hurtling bullets sweeping through the leafy covering, now and then thumping into the soft pine with a vicious joyousness, as if to say to each ...

— The Iron Game - A Tale of the War • Henry Francis Keenan

... evolution through earthly experiences. The Sontals, Somalis, and Zulus, the Dyaks of Borneo and Sumatra, and the Powhatans of Mexico have similar traditions. In Central Africa, slaves who are hunchbacked or maimed forestall the hour of death by voluntary self-immolation, in the hope of being reborn in the bodies of men who will be ...

— Reincarnation - A Study in Human Evolution • Th. Pascal

... true, his being guilty of some infidelities, but without failing otherwise in his conjugal duties. On her side the Empress adored him, sought by every means to please him, to divine his wishes, and to forestall ...

— The Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte • Bourrienne, Constant, and Stewarton

... true, the Arab buried somewhere enough ivory to finance this plan of theirs! They have been going about the search systematically, and sooner or later they feel they must stumble on it. They will not let you forestall them!" ...

— The Ivory Trail • Talbot Mundy

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