1 (avert) (by taking precautions) [+accident, disaster, death, war, pregnancy] prevenir; evitar; [+illness] prevenir another million tons of food is needed to prevent starvation in the country urgent action was needed to prevent a famine in the Sudan she couldn't prevent his death these methods prevent pregnancy evidence suggests that a diet high in fish oils helps prevent premature birth it's obviously too late to prevent this war this is an accident that could have been prevented he accused the authorities of not taking sufficient precautions to prevent the disaster
we want to prevent a recurrence of yesterday's violence queremos evitar que la violencia desplegada ayer se repita; queremos prevenir evitar una repetición de la violencia desplegada ayer;or
there is nothing we can do to prevent earthquakes a drug which may help prevent cancer taking an aspirin a day can prevent heart attacks this extra protection helps prevent frost damage during winter at all costs we must prevent a return to anarchy
2 (impede, put a stop to) [+crime, corruption] impedir; [+attempt] prevenir; impedir installations to prevent any attempt to escape instalaciones para prevenir impedir cualquier intento de huida; (f)or bodyguards prevented his attempt to shoot the president unos guardaespaldas hicieron fracasar su intento de disparar al presidente
extra troops were deployed to prevent any assassination attempt strict security has been imposed to prevent any attempt to sabotage the event
to prevent the spread of AIDS/nuclear weapons impedir la propagación del SIDA/la proliferación de las armas nucleares
the police say they're succeeding in preventing crime the crime could have been prevented if you had taken a few elementary precautions measures to prevent corruption measures to prevent terrorist activity police chiefs called for tough new laws to prevent further attacks on policemen such a curfew would prevent legitimate political activities efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS in an attempt to prevent further bloodshed he has had his passport confiscated to prevent his departure he has called on the government to prevent the merger by removing sulphur dioxide at source it is hoped to prevent its escape to the atmosphere last week the Scottish secretary designated the house a listed building to prevent its demolition they were dusted with powdered sugar to prevent sticking
to prevent sb (from) doing sth prevent sb's doing sth impedir que algn haga algo
I can't prevent him (from) leaving the country I can't prevent his leaving the country no puedo impedir que se vaya del país
don't let this prevent you from going no dejes que esto te impida ir
they may be prevented from leaving the country he said this would prevent companies from creating new jobs the police have been trying to prevent them carrying weapons even wearing a crash helmet didn't prevent his getting killed they even threatened to prevent my going on the trip if an accident or sickness prevents you from earning a living to prevent sth (from) do[ing] sth high winds prevented the helicopter from taking off they could do nothing to prevent the articles being published I couldn't prevent the door from closing we want to prevent this happening again firefighters prevented the fire from spreading further treatment will prevent cancer from developing bed rest can help prevent the illness from spreading the unions are standing around the building in an attempt to prevent the delivery trucks from leaving the area
she bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out se mordió el labio para no gritar
she couldn't prevent herself from smiling at his discomfort Imelda could not prevent herself from feeling hopeful he could not prevent himself from yelling at her she paused, then couldn't prevent herself from adding, "that is, if you like"
