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Prevent vs Curb - What's the difference?

prevent | curb |

In transitive terms the difference between prevent and curb

is that prevent is to stop; to keep (from happening) while curb is to bend or curve.

As a noun curb is

a row of concrete along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK.

prevent

English

Alternative forms

* (archaic)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To stop; to keep (from happening).
  • I brushed my teeth to prevent them from going yellow.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Tom Fordyce , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Scotland must now hope Georgia produce a huge upset and beat Argentina by at least eight points in Sunday's final Pool B match to prevent them failing to make the last eight for the first time in World Cup history.}}
  • * 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
  • ‘I think you must be mad, and she shall not have a glimpse of it while I'm here to prevent !’
  • (obsolete) To come before; to precede.
  • * Bible, 1 Thess. iv. 15
  • We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
  • * Book of Common Prayer
  • We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us.
  • * Prior
  • Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen.
  • (obsolete) To outdo, surpass.
  • * 1596 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , IV.i:
  • With that he put his spurres vnto his steed, / With speare in rest, and toward him did fare, / Like shaft out of a bow preuenting speed.
  • (obsolete) To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • their ready guilt preventing thy commands

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * preventative * prevention * preventive

    curb

    English

    Alternative forms

    * kerb (British)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (North America) A row of concrete along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK )
  • A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening.
  • Something that checks or restrains; a restraint.
  • * Denham
  • By these men, religion, that should be / The curb , is made the spur of tyranny.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=April 19 , author=Josh Halliday , title=Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."}}
  • A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll via the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove via a curb chain.
  • * Drayton
  • He that before ran in the pastures wild / Felt the stiff curb control his angry jaws.
  • (North America) A sidewalk, covered or partially enclosed, bordering the airport terminal road system with an adjacent paved areas to permit vehicles to off-load or load passengers.
  • A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness.
  • Derived terms

    * curb appeal * curb service * roof curb

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To check, restrain or control.
  • * "Curb your dog."
  • * Prior
  • Where pinching want must curb thy warm desires.
  • To rein in.
  • To furnish with a curb, as a well; to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth.
  • To force to "bite the curb" (hit the pavement curb); see curb stomp.
  • To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb.
  • To bend or curve.
  • * Holland
  • crooked and curbed lines
  • To crouch; to cringe.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, / Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.