Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to forestall
Participle: forestalled
Gerund: forestalling
Cognates
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Indicative
Present
| I | forestall |
| you | forestall |
| he;she;it | forestalls |
| we | forestall |
| you | forestall |
| they | forestall |
Perfect
| I | have forestalled |
| you | have forestalled |
| he;she;it | has forestalled |
| we | have forestalled |
| you | have forestalled |
| they | have forestalled |
Past
| I | forestalled |
| you | forestalled |
| he;she;it | forestalled |
| we | forestalled |
| you | forestalled |
| they | forestalled |
Pluperfect
| I | had forestalled |
| you | had forestalled |
| he;she;it | had forestalled |
| we | had forestalled |
| you | had forestalled |
| they | had forestalled |
Future
| I | will forestall |
| you | will forestall |
| he;she;it | will forestall |
| we | will forestall |
| you | will forestall |
| they | will forestall |
Future Perfect
| I | will have forestalled |
| you | will have forestalled |
| he;she;it | will have forestalled |
| we | will have forestalled |
| you | will have forestalled |
| they | will have forestalled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | forestall |
| you | forestall |
| he;she;it | forestall |
| we | forestall |
| you | forestall |
| they | forestall |
Perfect
| I | have forestalled |
| you | have forestalled |
| he;she;it | have forestalled |
| we | have forestalled |
| you | have forestalled |
| they | have forestalled |
Imperfect
| I | forestalled |
| you | forestalled |
| he;she;it | forestalled |
| we | forestalled |
| you | forestalled |
| they | forestalled |
Pluperfect
| I | had forestalled |
| you | had forestalled |
| he;she;it | had forestalled |
| we | had forestalled |
| you | had forestalled |
| they | had forestalled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would forestall |
| you | would forestall |
| he;she;it | would forestall |
| we | would forestall |
| you | would forestall |
| they | would forestall |
Perfect
| I | would have forestalled |
| you | would have forestalled |
| he;she;it | would have forestalled |
| we | would have forestalled |
| you | would have forestalled |
| they | would have forestalled |
Imperative
| you | forestall |
| we | Let's forestall |
| you | forestall |
Verbs conjugated like 'forestall'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'forestall'
forestal,
forstall,
forecall,
forespell,
forestage,
forestand,
forestate,
forestay,
foretell,
coinstall,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to delay taking action; to wait until later
- avert, forestay, forslow, protract, retard, suspend, procrastinate
- hinder
- prevent, safeguard, preclude, thwart, anticipate
Antonyms
- hinder
- assist, aid, advance, forward
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. O.E. foresteall "an ambush, a waylaying," from fore "before" + steall "standing position" (see stall (1)). Modern sense of "to anticipate and delay" is from 1585.
2. From Middle English forestallen (“to forestall, intercept, ambush, way-lay”), from forestalle (“a forestalling, interception”), from Old English foresteall (“intervention, hindrance of justice, ambush”), from fore- (“ahead of, before”) + steall (“position”), equivalent to fore- + stall.
Sample Sentences
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Fred forestalled disaster by his prompt action.
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The Act of 1846 also authorised a branch from the village of Broughty Ferry on the D. & A. to the pier at Broughty Ferry Castle. This action was taken to forestall the Edinburgh & Northern Railway, which had acquired the ferry between Ferryport-on-Craig (Tayport from July, 1851) and Broughty Ferry, and had hopes of a connecting railway on the north side of the Tay. [1958 January 26, Charles E. Lee, “The Dundee & Arbroath Railway - 1”, in Railway Magazine, page 29:]
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In French, an aspired h forestalls elision.
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What need a man forestall his date of grief, / And run to meet what he would most avoid? (Comus) [1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:]
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She insisted on doing her share of the offices needful to the sick. She arranged his bed so that it was possible to change the sheet without disturbing him. She washed him. […] She did not speak to him much, but she was quick to forestall his wants. [1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 26”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:]
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All the better; may / This night forestall him of the coming day! [1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:]