Adjacent Words

Inhibit definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INHIB'IT, v.t. [L. inhibeo; in and habeo, to hold, properly to rush or drive.]
1. To restrain; to hinder; to check or repress.
Their motions also are excited or inhibited--by the objects without them.
2. To forbid; to prohibit; to interdict.
All men were inhibited by proclamation at the dissolution so much as to mention a parliament.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: to put down by force or authority; "suppress a nascent uprising"; "stamp down on littering"; "conquer one's desires" [syn: suppress, stamp down, inhibit, subdue, conquer, curb]
2: limit the range or extent of; "Contact between the young was inhibited by strict social customs"
3: limit, block, or decrease the action or function of; "inhibit the action of the enzyme"; "inhibit the rate of a chemical reaction"
4: control and refrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior [syn: inhibit, bottle up, suppress]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Latin inhibitus, past participle of inhib?re, from in- ²in- + hab?re to have — more at habit Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to prohibit from doing something 2. a. to hold in check ; restrain b. to discourage from free or spontaneous activity especially through the operation of inner psychological or external social constraints intransitive verb to cause inhibition Synonyms: see forbid • inhibitive adjective • inhibitory adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (inhibited, inhibiting) 1 hinder, restrain, or prevent (an action or progress). 2 (as inhibited adj.) subject to inhibition. 3 a (usu. foll. by from + verbal noun) forbid or prohibit (a person etc.). b (esp. in ecclesiastical law) forbid (an ecclesiastic) to exercise clerical functions. Derivatives: inhibitive adj. inhibitor n. inhibitory adj. Etymology: L inhibere (as IN-(2), habere hold)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inhibit In*hib"it, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inhibited; p. pr. & vb. n. Inhibiting.] [L. inhibitus, p. p. of inhibere; pref. in- in + habere to have, hold. See Habit.] 1. To check; to hold back; to restrain; to hinder. Their motions also are excited or inhibited . . . by the objects without them. --Bentley. 2. To forbid; to prohibit; to interdict. All men were inhibited, by proclamation, at the dissolution, so much as to mention a Parliament. --Clarendon. Burial may not be inhibited or denied to any one. --Ayliffe.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(inhibits, inhibiting, inhibited) 1. If something inhibits an event or process, it prevents it or slows it down. The high cost of borrowing is inhibiting investment by industry in new equipment. VERB: V n 2. To inhibit someone from doing something means to prevent them from doing it, although they want to do it or should be able to do it. It could inhibit the poor from getting the medical care they need... VERB: V n from -ing/n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Restrain, hinder, check, repress, obstruct, bar, debar, stop. 2. Prohibit, forbid, interdict.

Moby Thesaurus

arrest, avert, ban, bar, bit, bottle up, box up, bridle, cage, check, cloister, confine, constrain, contain, control, cool, cool off, coop, coop in, coop up, cork up, countercheck, crib, curb, curtail, dam up, damp, dampen, debar, decelerate, delay, deny, detain, disallow, discourage, dompt, embargo, encage, enclose, enjoin, exclude, exclude from, fence in, forbid, frustrate, govern, guard, hem in, hinder, hold, hold at bay, hold back, hold down, hold fast, hold in, hold in check, hold in custody, hold in leash, hold in restraint, hold up, immure, impede, impound, intercept, interdict, interfere, interfere with, intermeddle, interrupt, intervene, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in, keep in check, keep in custody, keep in detention, keep under, keep under control, lay under restraint, lock in, maintain, meddle, mew, mew up, obstruct, oppose, outlaw, pen, pen up, pound, preclude, preserve, prevent, prohibit, proscribe, pull, pull in, rail in, refuse, rein, rein in, reject, repress, resist, restrain, restrict, retain, retard, retrench, rule out, save, save up, say no to, scotch, seal up, set back, shackle, shut in, shut out, shut up, slacken, slow down, smother, snub, stifle, stop, straiten, sublimate, suppress, taboo, wall in, ward, withhold