Hypertext Webster Gateway: "forestall"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Forestall \Fore*stall"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Forestalled}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Forestalling}.] [OE. forstallen to stop, to
obstruct; to stop (goods) on the way to the market by buying
them beforehand, from forstal obstruction, AS. forsteal,
foresteall, prop., a placing one's self before another. See
{Fore}, and {Stall}.]
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? --Milton.
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
forestall
v 1: keep from happening of arising; have the effect of
preventing; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"
[syn: {prevent}, {foreclose}, {preclude}, {forbid}]
2: act in advance of; deal with ahead of time [syn: {anticipate},
{foresee}, {counter}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.