prohibit — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To forbid, disallow, or proscribe officially; to make illegal or illicit.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   bandisallowforbidproscribeveto

   Antonyms

   allowauthorizepermit

   Related words

   prohibitionprohibitiveinterdictdebarpreventhinder

   Examples

   The restaurant prohibits smoking on the patio.

   I was prohibited to come.

   More examples (4)

   Crossing the border without permission is prohibited.

   In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

   Like the previous rules, the new guidance doesn’t prohibit membership in an extremist organization, but officials said it makes it very difficult to participate. […] For years, the Defense Department relied on a nebulous definition of extremist activity that listed it among a wide array of prohibited behavior. […] “It’s threading a very fine needle when we’re engaging in prohibiting conduct that may be protected by the First Amendment,” said one official. “There’s always going to be this balancing that goes on.”

   The Foreign Assistance Act bars assistance to any country that “prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”

Verb

1. command against

   Synonyms

   forbidinterdictproscribevetodisallownix

   Broader terms

   commandrequire

   Examples

   I forbid you to call me late at night

   Mother vetoed the trip to the chocolate store

   More examples (1)

   Dad nixed our plans