prevent from doing something or being in a certain state; "We must prevent the cancer from spreading"; "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"
keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"
devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment; "the blunt truth"; "the crude facts"; "facing the stark reality of the deadline"
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion; "blunt talking and straight shooting"; "a blunt New England farmer"; "I gave them my candid opinion"; "forthright criticism"; "a forthright approach to the problem"; "tell me what you think--and you may just as well be frank"; "it is possible to be outspoken without being rude"; "plainspoken and to the point"; "a point-blank accusation"
used of a knife or other blade; not sharp; "a blunt instrument"
having a broad or rounded end; "thick marks made by a blunt pencil"
a particular instance of selling; "he has just made his first sale"; "they had to complete the sale before the banks closed"
the general activity of selling; "they tried to boost sales"; "laws limit the sale of handguns"
an occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices; "they held a sale to reduce their inventory"; "I got some great bargains at their annual sale"
an agreement (or contract) in which property is transferred from the seller (vendor) to the buyer (vendee) for a fixed price in money (paid or agreed to be paid by the buyer); "the salesman faxed the sales agreement to his home office"
the state of being purchasable; offered or exhibited for selling; "you'll find vitamin C for sale at most pharmacies"; "the new line of cars will soon be on sale"
people who are old collectively; "special arrangements were available for the aged"
(used of tobacco) aging as a preservative process (`aged' is pronounced as one syllable)
of wines, fruit, cheeses; having reached a desired or final condition; (`aged' pronounced as one syllable); "mature well-aged cheeses"
advanced in years; (`aged' is pronounced as two syllables); "aged members of the society"; "elderly residents could remember the construction of the first skyscraper"; "senior citizen"
at an advanced stage of erosion (pronounced as one syllable); "aged rocks"
lacking physical depth; having little spatial extension downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or outward from a center; "shallow water"; "a shallow dish"; "a shallow cut"; "a shallow closet"; "established a shallow beachhead"; "hit the ball to shallow left field"
not deep or strong; not affecting one deeply; "shallow breathing"; "a night of shallow fretful sleep"; "in a shallow trance"
lacking depth of intellect or knowledge; concerned only with what is obvious; "shallow people"; "his arguments seemed shallow and tedious"
your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally; "his manner of speaking was quite abrupt"; "her speech was barren of southernisms"; "I detected a slight accent in his speech"
the quality of being difficult; "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb"
a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result; "serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent"
a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome; "grappling with financial difficulties"
a distinctive influence; "English stills bears the imprint of the Norman invasion"
an impression produced by pressure or printing
an identification of a publisher; a publisher's name along with the date and address and edition that is printed at the bottom of the title page; "the book was published under a distinguished imprint"
establish or impress firmly in the mind; "We imprint our ideas onto our children"
cause an eclipse of (a celestial body) by intervention; "The Sun eclipses the moon today"; "Planets and stars often are occulted by other celestial bodies"
cause an eclipse of; of celestial bodies; "The moon eclipsed the sun"
prevent the progress or free movement of; "He was hampered in his efforts by the bad weather"; "the imperialist nation wanted to strangle the free trade between the two small countries"