[syn: prohibition, inhibition, forbiddance]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Inhibition \In`hi*bi"tion\, n. [L. inhibitio: cf. F.
inhibition.]
[1913 Webster]
1. The act of inhibiting, or the state of being inhibited;
restraint; prohibition; embargo.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Physiol.) A stopping or checking of an already present
action; a restraining of the function of an organ, or an
agent, as a digestive fluid or enzyme, etc.; as, the
inhibition of the respiratory center by the pneumogastric
nerve; the inhibition of reflexes, etc.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law) A writ from a higher court forbidding an inferior
judge from further proceedings in a cause before; esp., a
writ issuing from a higher ecclesiastical court to an
inferior one, on appeal. --Cowell.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Chem., Biochem.) The reduction in rate or stopping of a
chemical or biochemical reaction, due to interaction with
a chemical agent.
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
inhibition
n 1: (psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable
thoughts or desires [syn: inhibition, suppression]
2: the quality of being inhibited
3: (physiology) the process whereby nerves can retard or prevent
the functioning of an organ or part; "the inhibition of the
heart by the vagus nerve"
4: the action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an
instance thereof); "they were restrained by a prohibition in
their charter"; "a medical inhibition of alcoholic
beverages"; "he ignored his parents' forbiddance" [syn:
prohibition, inhibition, forbiddance]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
119 Moby Thesaurus words for "inhibition":
Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition Party, Volstead Act, arrest,
arrestation, arrestment, ban, bar, barrier, block, blockage,
blocking, bottling up, censorship, check, clogging, closing up,
closure, constraint, constriction, contraband, control, cooling,
cooling down, cooling off, corking up, cramp, curb, curtailment,
deceleration, defence, delay, denial, detainment, detention,
disallowance, embargo, exclusion, fixation, foot-dragging,
forbiddance, forbidden fruit, forbidding, hampering, hindering,
hindrance, holdback, holding, holding in, holdup, impediment,
index, index expurgatorius, index librorum prohibitorum,
injunction, interdict, interdiction, interdictum, interference,
interruption, keeping, law, legal restraint, let, locking in,
maintenance, monopoly, negativism, no-no, nuisance value,
obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion, opposition, preclusion,
prehension, preservation, prevention, prohibition,
prohibitory injunction, proscription, protection, protectionism,
protective tariff, psychological block, rationing, refusal, rein,
rejection, repression, resistance, restraint, restraint of trade,
restriction, restrictive covenants, retainment, retardation,
retardment, retention, retentiveness, retentivity, retrenchment,
ruling out, self-consciousness, self-control, setback,
slowing down, squeeze, statute, stranglehold, stricture,
sumptuary laws, suppression, taboo, tariff wall, tenacity,
thought control, zoning, zoning laws
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
INHIBITION, Scotch law,. A personal prohibition which passes by letters
under the signet, prohibiting the party inhibited to contract any debt, or
do . any deed, by which any part of the lands may be aliened or carried off,
in prejudice of the creditor inhibiting. Ersk. Pr. L. Scot. B. 2, t. 11, s.
2. See Diligences.
2. In the civil law, the prohibition which the law makes, or a judge
ordains to an individual, is called inhibition.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
INHIBITION, Eng. law. The name of a writ which forbids a judge from further
proceeding in a cause depending before him; it is in the nature of a
prohibition. T. de la Ley; F. N. B. 39.