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To put a barrier before; hence, to shut out; to hinder; to stop; to impede. The valves preclude the blood from entering the veins. E. Darwin.

To be before in doing; to do or take before another; to preclude or prevent by prior action. To anticipate and prevent the duke's purpose. R. Hall. He would probably have died by the hand of the executioner, if indeed the executioner had not been anticipated by the populace. Macaulay.

To surround with an army so as to preclude escape; to besiege; to blockade. The wail of famine in beleaguered towns. Longfellow.

To cut off from entrance, as if by a bar or barrier; to preclude; to hinder from approach, entry, or enjoyment; to shut out or exclude; to deny or refuse; -- with from, and sometimes with of. Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed Labor, as to debar us when we need Refreshment. Milton. Their wages were so low as to…

To shut up or out; to preclude; to stop; to prevent; to bar; to exclude. The embargo with Spain foreclosed this trade. Carew. To foreclose a mortgager (Law), to cut him off by a judgment of court from the power of redeeming the mortgaged premises, termed his equity of redemption. -- To foreclose a mortgage, (not techn…

So tightly fitted as to preclude the escape of gas; impervious to gas.

In a manner, or to a degree, that precludes remedy, cure, or correction.

The act of precluding, or the state of being precluded; a shutting out.

Shutting out; precluding, or tending to preclude; hindering. -- Pre*clu"sive*ly, adv.

To preoccupy, as the mind or heart, so as to preclude other things; hence, to bias or prejudice; to give a previous inclination to, for or against anything; esp., to induce a favorable opinion beforehand, or at the outset. It created him enemies, and prepossessed the lord general. Evelyn.

To hinder; to debar; to prevent; to preclude. Gates of burning adamant, Barred over us, prohibit all egress. Milton.

To preclude; to exclude; to bar out. "Shut from every shore." Dryden.

d, or reduced fee; an estate limited to certain heirs, and from which the other heirs are precluded; -- called also estate tail. Blackstone.