forbid
/fəˈbɪd
/verb (forbids, forbidding; past forbade /fəˈbad/ /fəˈbeɪd/ or forbad /fəˈbad/; past participle forbidden /fəˈbɪd(ə)n/) [with object]
1Refuse to allow (something): mixed marriages were forbidden...
- Until the reign of the iconoclastic Kamehameha II, Hawaiian culture was dominated by a rigid set of kapu, or taboos, sacred laws forbidding things like men and women eating together.
- The policy, designed to leave families homeless, impoverished and traumatized, is illegal because international law forbids the demolition of houses by an occupying power.
- They also argued that the FBI violated Russian law, which strictly forbids un-authorized trespass on hard drives.
1.1Order (someone) not to do something: I was forbidden from seeing him again [with object and infinitive]: my doctor has forbidden me to eat sugar...
- He is forbidden from participating in future role plays and he was disciplined for being ‘inappropriate’.
- We are still forbidden from coming anywhere near the house after 6.
- But that doesn't mean I'm forbidden from ever telling any more stories with any of those characters in ever again, or I hope it doesn't.
1.2Refuse entry to a place or area: all vehicles are forbidden
1.3(Of a circumstance or quality) make (something) impossible; prevent: the cliffs forbid any easy turning movement...
- Many of the foreigners were utterly destitute; and their increasing numbers at length forbade a recourse to the usual modes of relief.
- And, most of all… I hated the circumstances for forbidding it.
- Its cliffs forbid coastal access, leaving the interior - a tussock-covered plateau - as the only feasible route.
Phrases
God (or Heaven) forbid
Origin
Old English forbēodan (see for-, bid2).