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Preclude Uses Within and Outside Law
Preclude is often used in legal writing, where it usually refers to making something legally impossible. A new law may be passed by Congress to preclude any suits of a certain kind against a federal agency, for example. Some judges have found that the warnings on cigarette packs preclude any suits against the tobacco companies by lung-cancer sufferers. But there are plenty of nonlegal uses as well. Bad weather often precludes trips to the beach, and a lack of cash might preclude any beach vacation at all.
Synonyms
Examples of preclude in a Sentence
Louise Erdrich, Harper's, May 1993
… the institution [of slavery] in the United States was almost uniquely despotic, a closed system so powerful and totalitarian that organized insurrection was almost entirely precluded …
—William Styron, American Heritage, October 1992
But conceptual blinders can preclude observation, while most accurate generalities guarantee no proper resolution of specific anatomies, but can certainly guide perceptions along fruitful paths.
—Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life, 1989
… the same profusion of water that precluded overland travel in the summer months could, during the sledgehammer freeze of winter, be utilized as a natural highway—albeit a highway of ice.
—Jon Krakauer, Smithsonian, November 1987
She suffered an injury that precluded the possibility of an athletic career.
Bad weather precluded any further attempts to reach the summit.
Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2024
If Walker accepts, he will be considered under contract for 2025, although that does not preclude the sides from working on a long-term extension.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024
Krasner’s office said the lawsuit, coming just over a week before election day, doesn’t preclude potential criminal action.
—Mike Catalini, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2024
The sport usually takes place in single-engine helicopters, as twin engines are too heavy; many C-suiters will have insurance policies that specifically preclude them from clambering into any single-engine copter, a Robinson, for example.
—Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 16 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for preclude 
Dictionary Entries Near preclude
Cite this Entry
“Preclude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preclude. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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Legal Definition
preclude
transitive verb
Roach v. Teamsters Local Union No. 688, 595 F.2d 446 (1979)National Law Journal
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