spoil

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to prevent something from happening
preventVaccination will prevent the spread of the disease.
avoidLabel the boxes to avoid confusion.
stopThis should stop any further trouble.
avertWe had to act quickly to avert disaster.
prohibitBehavioural problems in the classroom prohibit learning.
checkChildren are being vaccinated in an attempt to check the spread of the disease.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Preventing and impeding
anti-drug
anti-jamming
avoid
avoidable
avoidably
bottleneck
derail
fireproof
guard against something
hamper
hang
have someone/something hanging round your neckidiom
head off
preclusive
prejudice
prevent
preventable
preventative
scuttle
smother

Examples of thwarting

thwarting

In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.

This is not to say, however, that state multiculturalism reinforces ethnic fragmentation, thwarting a broader class-based project of transformation that would arise in its place.
Thwarting permanent human interests is not a wise political strategy.
Finally, emotional maltreatment involves extreme thwarting of children's basic emotional needs for psychological safety and security, acceptance and self-esteem, and ageappropriate autonomy.
Emotional maltreatment involves extreme thwarting of children's basic emotional needs for psychological safety and security, acceptance and self-esteem, and ageappropriate autonomy.
A jet engine fails to start even though its parts are in perfect repair - thus thwarting a hijacker.
The second case involves the kind of coercive thwarting of sovereignty that is part of paternalism.
The aftermath of war also includes frustration, born of the thwarting of unrealised visions.
However, our explanation separates from the multiple traditions' explanation in the latter's absence of a well-defined agency promoting or thwarting these competing ideologies.
However, there were also significant interactions between year and locality on these variables, thwarting conclusions on the effects of logging on bee communities.
Emotional maltreatment involves extreme thwarting of children's basic emotional needs for psychological safety and security, acceptance, and self-esteem, and ageappropriate autonomy.
This finding again attests to the deleterious impact of ongoing maltreatment in thwarting the development of adaptive competencies as children confront subsequent developmental tasks.
Victorian views of prescribed roles were contradictory, encouraging independence as a virtue but thwarting women who asserted it as a right.
Emotional maltreatment involves extreme thwarting of children's basic emotional needs for psychological safety and security and age-appropriate autonomy.
Are the pain patients who are nonresponsive to our ministrations actually thwarting our desires to help?
Emotional maltreatment was coded for incidents involving persistent or extreme thwarting of children's emotional needs.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.