topping of an action at
any stage, the completion or conclusion only being thought of as
negatived by anticipation; the enemy passed the outworks and were barely
_prevented_ from capturing the fortress. Compare HINDER; PROHIBIT.

Preposition:

He was prevented by illness _from_ joining the expedition.

* * * * *

PREVIOUS.

Synonyms:

antecedent, foregoing, front, preceding,
anterior, former, introductory, preliminary,
earlier, forward, precedent, prior.

_Antecedent_ may denote simple priority in time, implying no direct
connection between that which goes before and that which follows; as,
the striking of one clock may be always _antecedent_ to the striking of
another with no causal connection between them. _Antecedent_ and
_previous_ may refer to that which goes or happens at any distance in
advance, _preceding_ is limited to that which is immediately or next
before; an _antecedent_ event may have happened at any time before; the
_preceding_ transaction is the one completed just before the one with
which it is compared; a _previous_ statement or chapter may be in any
part of the book that has gone before; the _preceding_ statement or
chapter comes next before without an interval. _Previous_ often
signifies first by right; as, a _previous_ engagement. _Foregoing_ is
used only of that which is spoken or written; as, the _foregoing_
statements. _Anterior_, while it can be used of time, is coming to be
employed chiefly with reference to place; as the _anterior_ lobes of the
brain. _Prior_ bears exclusive reference to time, and commonly where
that which is first in time is first also in right; as, a _prior_
demand. _Former_ is used of time, or of position in written or printed
matter, not of space in general. We can say _former_ times, a _former_
chapter, etc., but not the _former_ part of a garden; we should say the
_front_ part of the garden, the _forward_ car of a train. _Former_ has a
close relation, or sharp contrast, with something following; the
_former_ always implies the latter, even when not fully expressed, as in
_Acts_ i, 1, and _Eccles._ vii, 10.

Antonyms:

after, consequent, hind, hindmost, latter, subsequent,
concluding, following, hinder, later, posterior, succeeding.

Preposition:

Such was the state of things previous _to_ the revolution. [_Previous
to_ is often used adverbially, in constructio