intervene

verb

OPAL W

/ˌɪntəˈviːn/

/ˌɪntərˈviːn/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they intervene	/ˌɪntəˈviːn/ /ˌɪntərˈviːn/
he / she / it intervenes	/ˌɪntəˈviːnz/ /ˌɪntərˈviːnz/
past simple intervened	/ˌɪntəˈviːnd/ /ˌɪntərˈviːnd/
past participle intervened	/ˌɪntəˈviːnd/ /ˌɪntərˈviːnd/
-ing form intervening	/ˌɪntəˈviːnɪŋ/ /ˌɪntərˈviːnɪŋ/

jump to other results

[intransitive] to become involved in a situation in order to improve or help it
- She might have been killed if the neighbours hadn't intervened.
- intervene in something The President intervened personally in the crisis.
- intervene between A and B She went over to intervene between the two men.
- intervene against somebody They would not intervene against the rebels themselves.
- intervene (with somebody) (on behalf of somebody) attempts to intervene with the authorities on the prisoners' behalf
- intervene to do something They intervened to halt the attack.
Extra Examples
- Eventually, the army was forced to intervene.
- Government often intervenes decisively in major professional issues in medicine.
- Intervening militarily will not bring peace.
- Local people feel strongly about the proposed development but are virtually powerless to intervene.
- Nurses should be ready to intervene on behalf of their patients.
- Our government has no right to intervene.
- She was reluctant to intervene in what was essentially a private dispute.
- The King intervened personally on behalf of the children.
- The UN refused to intervene.
- Teachers should learn when to intervene and when to let the students do the talking.
- The EU refuses to intervene to control the trade.
Topics Discussion and agreementc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- actively
- directly
- personally
- …
verb + intervene
- be forced to
- have to
- be powerless to
- …
preposition
- against
- between
- in
- …
See full entry
[transitive, intransitive] (+ speech) to interrupt somebody when they are speaking in order to say something
- ‘But,’ she intervened, ‘what about the others?’
[intransitive] to happen in a way that delays something or prevents it from happening
- They were planning to get married and then the war intervened.
[intransitive] (formal) to exist between two events or places
- I saw nothing of her during the years that intervened.

Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘come in as an extraneous factor or thing’): from Latin intervenire, from inter- ‘between’ + venire ‘come’.