intervenein‧ter‧vene /ˌɪntəˈviːn $ -tər-/ ●●○ AWL verb 
Word Origin Examples
The police don’t usually like to intervene in disputes between husbands and wives. The army will have to intervene to prevent further fighting.2[intransitive, transitive] to interrupt someone when they are speaking: ‘Stop shouting, Emily,’ John intervened.3[intransitive] if an event intervenes, it delays or interrupts something else: He was just establishing his career when the war intervened.4[intransitive] if a period of time intervenes, it comes between two events: In the six years that intervened, I saw them once.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINintervene
Verb TableOrigin:
1500-1600 Latin intervenire, from venire ‘to come’VERB TABLE
intervene
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | intervene |
| he, she, it | intervenes | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | intervened |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have intervened |
| he, she, it | has intervened | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had intervened |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will intervene |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have intervened |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am intervening |
| he, she, it | is intervening | |
| you, we, they | are intervening | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was intervening |
| you, we, they | were intervening | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been intervening |
| he, she, it | has been intervening | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been intervening |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be intervening |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been intervening |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- The country was on its way to an economic renewal, but then an earthquake intervened.
- The UN has not yet decided whether to intervene militarily.
Longman Language Activatorto do something in order to deal with a bad situation► do something
Collocations to do something to deal with a problem, especially one that is urgent: · Quick, do something - there's water all over the kitchen floor.· We need to do something before everyone gets fed up and quits.do something about: · When are you going to do something about this broken window?· Teenagers were dropping out of school in huge numbers, until a group of parents and teachers decided to do something about it.
► take action to do something to stop a bad situation from happening or continuing - use this to talk about people who have a clear plan for dealing with a problem: · Unless governments take action, the Earth's atmosphere will continue to heat up.take action against: · The school will take strong action against any students using illegal drugs.take action on: · Congress is expected to take action on campaign finance reform soon.take action to do something: · The President may step in and take action to lower energy prices.
► act to use your power or authority to deal with an urgent problem: · We must act before the situation gets out of control.· Despite the crisis, the Commission seems unwilling to act.· Critics accuse the company of acting too slowly in notifying residents of the chemical leak.
► take steps/take measures if a government or someone in a position of power takes steps or measures , they do what is necessary to improve a situation or to deal with a problem: · The governor has not yet decided what measures should be taken.take steps/take measures to do something: · All departments must take measures now to reduce costs.· We apologize for the error and have taken steps to see that it does not happen again.take drastic measures: · Drastic measures will be taken against those who engage in terrorism.
► move if a person or organization moves to do something, they start to take action, especially in order to deal quickly with an urgent matter: · If anyone wants to put in a bid on the property they'll have to move quickly.move to do something: · Airport authorities are moving fast to improve security following a series of bomb threats.· In the past year the leadership has moved to strengthen their control over the party.
► intervene/step in to get involved in a difficult situation in order to stop a fight or deal with someone else's problem: · The referee intervened when two of the players started to fight.· The situation was allowed to continue for several months before the local authorities stepped in.intervene in something: · The UN was not authorized to intervene in a country's internal affairs.intervene/step in to do something: · Soldiers intervened to prevent further bloodshed.· Thomas had listened to the argument for long enough and he stepped in to defend Miss Price.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► again
Word family· I hope they will intervene again.· Mr. Clarke I hesitate to intervene again, as the hon. Gentleman is getting near to the time left for my contribution.· Mr. George Howarth I had not intended to intervene again, but the Minister has invited me to do so.
► directly· Western governments can not intervene directly to support the reformers.· Secondly, Hu suggests that the Fed should forswear intervening directly in equities or equity derivatives.· Rather than intervening directly, the Home Office appointed an independent commissioner, whose report vindicated Dyer's accusations.· Thus relieving them of the terrible necessity of having to intervene directly.
► militarily· Meanwhile Western countries remained divided over whether to intervene militarily in the conflict.
► only· The courts could intervene only if unfairness was such as to amount to an abuse of power.· Eisenhower was determined to intervene only with the full support of both Congress and adequate allies.
► personally· In 1859 the tsar intervened personally to prevent church leaders from consigning Belliustin to a monastery in the White Sea.· One has to be grateful to him for intervening personally.
NOUN► affair· They had no sanctioned power to intervene in the affairs of their members, but only to represent them to outsiders.· If the attempt was made and failed, the organisation would be discredited and no longer able to intervene decisively in Ulster affairs.· They were probably right to suspect that St Petersburg had begun to think of intervening in their affairs.
► authority· In theory, a shaikh did not have authority to intervene in quarrels within his lineage.· The last time a president invoked his authority to intervene in an airline labor situation was the mid-1960s.· In some authorities officers intervene in discussions at will whereas in others more formal rules apply.
► behalf· Most councillors expect to be lobbied by constituents and asked to intervene on their behalf.· It would not have been the first time Franklin Taylor had intervened on behalf of his sons.· He called on United States President Bush to intervene on their behalf.· Unfortunately, I am unable to intervene on your behalf.· During that time, Dong called on Ambassador Durbrow to intervene on his behalf.
► case· It would be more profitable to concentrate on deciding what factors should lead the courts to intervene in any particular case.
► court· The courts could intervene only if unfairness was such as to amount to an abuse of power.· The court may intervene where there has been a failure to comply with express procedural requirements.· The fundamental principle is that the courts will intervene to ensure that the powers of public decision-making bodies are exercised lawfully.· He agreed that the courts could intervene if the question was whether or not the Commission had acted within its powers or its jurisdiction.· The danger is not that the courts will intervene too much, but too little.· The labels law and fact have been attached depending upon whether the courts wish to intervene or not.· It would be more profitable to concentrate on deciding what factors should lead the courts to intervene in any particular case.· If a body exercising the statutory powers went beyond the four corners of the act, then the court could intervene.
► dispute· Members have been instructed not to intervene in any dispute at the Wolds.· The world is not going to intervene to stop such disputes.· I guessed that he didn't intervene in my dispute with Shadwell because he wanted the situation to deteriorate further.· Mr Poole said there were signs that the Army was being put on standby to intervene in the three-week-old dispute.
► exchange· Nobody will believe that governments are likely to intervene when exchange rates move toward the edge of their bands.· The second factor is how the government intervenes to affect the exchange rate.
► family· It has to take powers to intervene in family life and take into care children who are being neglected or badly treated.· Officials cite a need for statewide consistency in when to intervene in family matters.· There was moreover a great reluctance to intervene in the family itself.· How does one intervene in the Family Disease?
► forces· The resignation of the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, early in 1938 provided an opportunity for the popular forces to intervene.· Ciampini said he was in Srebrenica in March and could foresee a disaster unless outside forces intervened.· Borja ordered the armed forces to intervene after violent clashes, including gunfire, between the security forces and the demonstrators.· Chatichai was forced to demote Chalerm in November after the armed forces had threatened to intervene.
► government· But there are areas where governments could profitably intervene in a more positive and co-ordinated way.· The federal government intervened for the first time with relief and welfare funds to protect the individual from economic misfortune.· Eventually, the Government intervened to prevent the manufacture of that product in Britain.· The government tended to intervene swiftly with police and troops when major plants or the railway system were disrupted.· This was the third time in six months that the federal government had intervened in state politics to redress alleged fraud.· Nobody will believe that governments are likely to intervene when exchange rates move toward the edge of their bands.· Neighbouring countries' governments have intervened in favour of their own people.
► life· It has to take powers to intervene in family life and take into care children who are being neglected or badly treated.· One of them was later to intervene to save his life.
► market· The state was as reluctant to intervene in the housing market, despite its manifest deficiencies.· Even now, though, central banks intervene in the market and sometimes coordinate to push currencies one way or the other.· Finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrial countries agreed to intervene in financial markets if need be.· How has the government intervened in the housing market?· In the intervening period, the market sector has become dominant and all three sectors concentrate on using resources efficiently and effectively.· They want to give new competitors more of a chance, even if it means intervening in the market to do so.
► matter· Is there any evidence of gravitational attraction being modified by intervening matter.· Officials cite a need for statewide consistency in when to intervene in family matters.
► minister· Now the grocery shops want the Prime Minister to intervene.· Will the Prime Minister intervene to stop this disgraceful taxation of the sick - yes or no?
► police· The nearby crowd surged forward and police had to intervene.· Hundreds of police were poised to intervene if things got out of hand, but they did not.· Referee Vic Callow stopped play and asked police to intervene after the boy made several comments.· Riot police intervened with teargas; 22 people were injured.· Only much later did riot police intervene to disperse the protesters.· Suspended Stoke striker Wayne Biggins clashed with Halsall after the final whistle and police were forced to intervene.
► power· It has to take powers to intervene in family life and take into care children who are being neglected or badly treated.· They had no sanctioned power to intervene in the affairs of their members, but only to represent them to outsiders.· He points out that he has no powers to intervene in the laying of a pipeline on part of his farm.· They know they are drinking themselves to death and in such an instance the social worker has no legal powers to intervene.
► process· Technical control arises from work processes which allow the manager to monitor and intervene in the labour process itself.· No questioning of the validity or desirability of the task can be permitted to intervene in the process.
► state· Failure to improve could result in the secretary of state intervening.· In the two generations since the Revolution, the state has intervened in many aspects of family life.· Now they have asked the Government of the newly independent former Soviet state to intervene.· Conservatism has a dogma that the State should not intervene.· Neither the successful actors nor the state intervene to protect those who fail to capture many resources.· The state intervenes as a last resort or safety net when parenting leads to dangerous or inadequate levels of child care.· But the state intervenes to ensure that national priorities are protected.
VERB► allow· This might then allow the teacher to intervene to encourage effective strategies.· A user interface reportedly allows a developer to intervene at any stage in the translation.· Occasionally, much to their glee, Mr Major allowed them to intervene.
► ask· If the plan does not resolve a serious complaint, they should ask their employer to intervene.· But an army spokesman denied that it had been asked to prepare to intervene.
► decide· Joan decides to intervene immediately to prevent injury to Robert.· When Austin murdered Bishop, the United States decided to intervene.
► try· Attacked A neighbour heard his screams but was driven back into her house when she tried to intervene.· When the two began arguing, the store manager tried to intervene and was shot in the hip.· Anybody who tried to intervene was beaten up.· Lisa tried to intervene, but Tabitha kept swinging a knife.· We did not know that some one had tried to intervene, just minutes before.
► wish· I shall happily give way if he wishes to intervene.· The labels law and fact have been attached depending upon whether the courts wish to intervene or not.· The label rational basis would simply be reflective of a conclusion already reached that the court does not wish to intervene.· The Great Powers who wished to intervene were primarily interested in the destruction of Bolshevism rather than in national independence perse.
WORD FAMILYnouninterventionverbintervene
1[intransitive] to become involved in an argument, fight, or other difficult situation in order to change what happensintervene in The police don’t usually like to intervene in disputes between husbands and wives. The army will have to intervene to prevent further fighting.2[intransitive, transitive] to interrupt someone when they are speaking: ‘Stop shouting, Emily,’ John intervened.3[intransitive] if an event intervenes, it delays or interrupts something else: He was just establishing his career when the war intervened.4[intransitive] if a period of time intervenes, it comes between two events: In the six years that intervened, I saw them once.