Webster's English Dictionary

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forbid

1. for.bid \f*r-'bid, fo.r-\ \-'bad, -'ba-d\ \-'bad\ \-'bid-*n\ vt or 
   for.bade or for.bad;  or for.bid.den or for.bid.ding [ME forbidden, fr. OE 
   forbe-odan, fr. for- + be-odan] to bid - more at BID 1: to command against 
   : PROHIBIT  2a: to exclude or warn off by express command  2b: to bar from 
   use {cameras are forbidden}  3: to hinder or prevent as if by an effectual 
   command  absolute proscription and expected obedience and suggests the 
   restraint of a parent, physician, or teacher; PROHIBIT implies more 
   generality and impersonality and suggests statutes or ordinances; INTERDICT 
   implies prohibition by civil or ecclesiastical authority usu. for a given 
   time or a declared purpose; INHIBIT implies the imposition of restraint or 
   restriction by authority or by the exigencies of time or situation or the 
   operation of often involuntary self-restraint - for.bid.der n SYN syn 
   PROHIBIT, INTERDICT, INHIBIT: FORBID implies 
2. forbid aj archaic  : ACCURSED {he shall live a man ~ -Shak.}