Adjacent Words

Intervene definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INTERVE'NE, v.i. [L. intervenio; inter and venio, to come.]
1. To come or be between persons or things; to be situated between. Thus the Atlantic intervenes between Europe and America; the Mediterranean intervenes between Europe and Africa.
2. To come between points or time or events; as the period that intervened between the treaty of Ryswick and the treaty of Utrecht.
3. To happen in a way to disturb, cross or interrupt. Events may intervene to frustrate our purposes or wishes.
4. To interpose or undertake voluntarily for another. A third party may intervene and accept a bill of exchange for another.
INTERVE'NE, n. A coming between. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat of force; "Why did the U.S. not intervene earlier in WW II?" [syn: intervene, step in, interfere, interpose]
2: be placed or located between other things or extend between spaces and events; "This interludes intervenes between the two movements"; "Eight days intervened"
3: occur between other event or between certain points of time; "the war intervened between the birth of her two children"

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb (-vened; -vening) Etymology: Latin intervenire to come between, from inter- + venire to come — more at come Date: 1587 1. to occur, fall, or come between points of time or events <only six months intervened between their marriage and divorce> 2. to enter or appear as an irrelevant or extraneous feature or circumstance <it's business as usual until a crisis intervenes> 3. a. to come in or between by way of hindrance or modification <intervene to stop a fight> b. to interfere with the outcome or course especially of a condition or process (as to prevent harm or improve functioning) 4. to occur or lie between two things 5. a. to become a third party to a legal proceeding begun by others for the protection of an alleged interest b. to interfere usually by force or threat of force in another nation's internal affairs especially to compel or prevent an action Synonyms: see interpose • intervention noun • interventional adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. (often foll. by between, in) 1 occur in time between events. 2 interfere; come between so as to prevent or modify the result or course of events. 3 be situated between things. 4 come in as an extraneous factor or thing. 5 Law interpose in a lawsuit as a third party. Derivatives: intervener n. intervenient adj. intervenor n. Etymology: L intervenire (as INTER-, venire come)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Intervene In`ter*vene", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Intervened; p. pr. & vb. n. Intervening.] [L. intervenire, interventum, to intervene, to hinder; inter between + venire to come; akin to E. come: cf. F. intervenir. See Come.] 1. To come between, or to be between, persons or things; -- followed by between; as, the Mediterranean intervenes between Europe and Africa. 2. To occur, fall, or come between, points of time, or events; as, an instant intervened between the flash and the report; nothing intervened ( i. e., between the intention and the execution) to prevent the undertaking. 3. To interpose; as, to intervene to settle a quarrel. 4. In a suit to which one has not been made a party, to put forward a defense of one's interest in the subject matter. --Abbott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Intervene In`ter*vene", v. t. To come between. [R.] Self-sown woodlands of birch, alder, etc., intervening the different estates. --De Quincey.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Intervene In`ter*vene", n. A coming between; intervention; meeting. [Obs.] --Sir H. Wotton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(intervenes, intervening, intervened) 1. If you intervene in a situation, you become involved in it and try to change it. The situation calmed down when police intervened... The Government is doing nothing to intervene in the crisis. VERB: V, V in n 2. If you intervene, you interrupt a conversation in order to add something to it. Hattie intervened and told me to stop it... 'I've told you he's not here,' Irena intervened. VERB: V, V with quote 3. If an event intervenes, it happens suddenly in a way that stops, delays, or prevents something from happening. The South African mailboat arrived on Friday mornings unless bad weather intervened... VERB: V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Interfere, come between. 2. Happen (in the mean time), occur, befall. 3. Be intermediate or interjacent, come between.

Moby Thesaurus

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