preclude

UK/pɹɪˈkluːd/US/pɹɪˈkluːd/

verbC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,035 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: precluded, precludes, precluding

To preclude is to make something impossible in advance. Preclude any doubt, precluded by the rules, this does not preclude it.

It is formal and belongs to rules and contracts, where something precluded is ruled out before it can arise. It is stronger than prevent, since preventing stops a thing happening and precluding stops it being possible.

Definitions of preclude

1verbprecludeTo make something impossible in advance.C1
“His injury will preclude him from playing in the final.”

preclude is a preventing.

Where it comes from

Latin
praeclūdō
English, today
preclude

Learned borrowing from Latin praeclūdō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

preclude in the wild

Such use does not preclude the use of these bands by other services to which they are allocated.
UMTS frequency bands
During the festival the temple of Athena was surrounded by a rope to preclude all communication with it.
Plynteria
The song is about "a macho guy convinced his rough-and-tumble life doesn't preclude him from remaining the king among his peers".
El Rey (song)
According to the Volkskrant, the restaurant building itself and its appearance, rather than its kitchen, would preclude the restaurant from obtaining a third Michelin star.
L'Auberge (restaurant)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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