inhibit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb to put down by force or authority
    stamp down; subdue; suppress; curb; conquer.
    • suppress a nascent uprising
    • stamp down on littering
    • conquer one's desires
  2. verb limit the range or extent of
    • Contact between the young was inhibited by strict social customs
  3. verb limit, block, or decrease the action or function of
    • inhibit the action of the enzyme
    • inhibit the rate of a chemical reaction
  4. verb control and refrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior
    bottle up; suppress.

WordNet

In*hib"it transitive verb
Etymology
L. inhibitus, p. p. of inhibere; pref. in- in + habere to have, hold. See Habit.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Inhibited; present participle & verbal noun Inhibiting
Definitions
  1. To check; to hold back; to restrain; to hinder.
    Their motions also are excited or inhibited . . . by the objects without them. Bentley.
  2. To forbid; to prohibit; to interdict.
    All men were inhibited, by proclamation, at the dissolution, so much as to mention a Parliament. Clarendon.
    Burial may not be inhibited or denied to any one. Ayliffe.

Webster 1913