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Preclude vs Prohibit - What's the difference?

preclude | prohibit |

In transitive terms the difference between preclude and prohibit

is that preclude is remove the possibility of; rule out; prevent or exclude; to make impossible while prohibit is to forbid, disallow, or proscribe officially; to make illegal or illicit.

preclude

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete)

Verb

(preclud)
  • Remove the possibility of; (l); prevent or exclude; to make (l).
  • It has been raining for days, but that doesn’t preclude the possibility that the skies will clear by this afternoon!
  • * {{quote-web
  • , date = 2013-08-09 , author = Douglas Main , title = Israel Outlaws Water Fluoridation , site = livescience , url = http://www.livescience.com/38796-israel-outlaws-water-fluoridation.html , accessdate = 2013-09-30 }}
    Israel's decision to ban fluoridation follows a vote to preclude the practice in Portland, Ore., and Wichita, Kan. It was also recently overturned in Hamilton, the fourth most populous city in New Zealand.

    Derived terms

    * precludable * preclusion * preclusive * preclusively

    prohibit

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To forbid, disallow, or proscribe officially; to make illegal or illicit.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=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.}}

    Synonyms

    * forbid * disallow * ban * See also

    Antonyms

    * allow * authorize

    See also

    * interdict * debar * prevent * hinder