forbid

[fer-bid, fawr-] /fərˈbɪd, fɔr-/
verb (used with object), forbade or forbad or forbid, forbidden or forbid, forbidding.
1.
to command (a person) not to do something, have something, etc., or not to enter some place:
to forbid him entry to the house.
2.
to prohibit (something); make a rule or law against:
to forbid the use of lipstick; to forbid smoking.
3.
to hinder or prevent; make impossible.
4.
to exclude; bar:
Burlesque is forbidden in many cities.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English forbeden, Old English forbēodan. See for-, bid1
Related forms
forbidder, noun
Can be confused
forbade, forbid, forbidden, forebode (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonyms
1, 2. interdict. Forbid, inhibit, prohibit, taboo indicate a command to refrain from some action. Forbid, a common and familiar word, usually denotes a direct or personal command of this sort: I forbid you to go. It was useless to forbid children to play in the park. Inhibit implies a checking or hindering of impulses by the mind, sometimes involuntarily: to inhibit one's desires; His responsiveness was inhibited by extreme shyness. Prohibit, a formal or legal word, means usually to forbid by official edict, enactment, or the like: to prohibit the sale of liquor. Taboo, primarily associated with primitive superstition, means to prohibit by common disapproval and by social custom: to taboo a subject in polite conversation. 3. preclude, stop, obviate, deter.
Examples from the web for forbid
  • Oh, and stars forbid that they actually run out of our favorite brand of whiskey.
  • All jurisdictions except one forbid lawyers from sharing legal fees with non-lawyers.
  • But the law seems to forbid lawyers from suggesting or even discussing such things.
  • The officials go by this way, therefore forbid new and not known.
  • Stop and forbid meat eating is more effective than all technologies combined.
  • To forbid it along with all forms of artificial birth control c.
  • Another option would be to let a user explicitly forbid firms to extract recommendations from his online habits.
  • And the government can also decide to forbid the tests.
  • These issues forbid disruptive technologies and endorse a small-step marketing of the same recycled stuff.
  • Organic standards forbid the continuous confinement of beef cattle on feedlots.
British Dictionary definitions for forbid

forbid

/fəˈbɪd/
verb (transitive) -bids, -bidding, -bade, -bad, -bidden, -bid
1.
to prohibit (a person) in a forceful or authoritative manner (from doing something or having something)
2.
to make impossible; hinder
3.
to shut out or exclude
4.
God forbid!, may it not happen
Derived Forms
forbiddance, noun
forbidder, noun
Word Origin
Old English forbēodan; related to Old High German farbiotan, Gothic faurbiudan; see for-, bid
Word Origin and History for forbid
v.

Old English forbeodan "forbid, prohibit," from for- "against" + beodan "to command" (see bid). Common Germanic compound (cf. Dutch verbieden, Old High German farbiotan, German verbieten, Old Norse fyrirbjoða, Gothic faurbiudan "to forbid"). Related: Forbade; forbidden.

Idioms and Phrases with forbid

forbid

see: god forbid