Adjacent Words

Deter definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DETER, v.t. [L., to frighten.]
1. To discourage and stop by fear; to stop or prevent from acting or proceeding, by danger, difficulty or other consideration which disheartens, or countervails the motive for an act. We are often deterred from out duty by trivial difficulties. The state of the road or a cloudy sky may deter a man from undertaking a journey.
A million of frustrated hopes will not deter us from new experiments.
2. To prevent by prohibition or danger.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: try to prevent; show opposition to; "We should discourage this practice among our youth" [syn: deter, discourage]
2: turn away from by persuasion; "Negative campaigning will only dissuade people" [syn: dissuade, deter] [ant: persuade]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (deterred; deterring) Etymology: Latin deterr?re, from de- + terr?re to frighten — more at terror Date: circa 1547 1. to turn aside, discourage, or prevent from acting <she would not be deterred by threats> 2. inhibit <painting to deter rust> • determent noun • deterrability noun • deterrable adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (deterred, deterring) 1 (often foll. by from) discourage or prevent (a person) through fear or dislike of the consequences. 2 discourage, check, or prevent (a thing, process, etc.). Derivatives: determent n. Etymology: L deterrere (as DE-, terrere frighten)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deter De*ter", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deterred; p. pr. & vb. n. Deterring.] [L. deterrere; de + terrere to frighten, terrify. See Terror.] To prevent by fear; hence, to hinder or prevent from action by fear of consequences, or difficulty, risk, etc. --Addison. Potent enemies tempt and deter us from our duty. --Tillotson. My own face deters me from my glass. --Prior.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(deters, deterring, deterred) To deter someone from doing something means to make them not want to do it or continue doing it. Supporters of the death penalty argue that it would deter criminals from carrying guns... Arrests and jail sentences have done nothing to deter the protesters... = discourage VERB: V n from -ing, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Restrain, hinder, discourage, prevent, hold back, withhold (by fear).

Moby Thesaurus

anticipate, avert, awe, bar, block, blunt, check, chill, cool, damp, dampen, daunt, debar, deflect, disaffect, discourage, dishearten, disincline, disinterest, dissuade, distract, divert, estop, exclude, faze, fend, fend off, forbid, foreclose, forestall, frighten, help, hinder, impede, indispose, inhibit, intimidate, keep from, keep off, obstruct, obviate, overawe, preclude, prevent, prohibit, put off, quench, repel, restrain, rule out, save, scare, scare off, shake, shut out, stave off, stop, turn aside, turn away, turn from, turn off, ward, ward off, wean from