precaution
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.an action you take before something happens to prevent danger or trouble.
n.a measure taken in advance to ward off potential danger, failure, or injury.
Simple“We took the precaution of locking all the windows before we left for our holiday.”
In context“As a standard safety precaution, all laboratory personnel are required to wear protective eyewear regardless of the specific experiment being conducted.”
Antonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
n.the quality of being careful and thinking about the future to avoid mistakes.
n.the state or quality of employing caution beforehand to prevent misfortune.
Simple“He acted with great precaution when handling the fragile old documents.”
In context“The surgeon proceeded with extreme precaution, aware that the slightest tremor could damage the surrounding nerve tissue.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to warn someone about a danger before it happens.
v.to warn or caution a person in advance of a potential risk.
Simple“The captain precautioned the crew about the approaching storm.”
In context“The legal advisor precautioned the board members against making any public statements before the contract was officially signed.”
Usagetakes a direct object, often followed by 'against' or 'about'
Synonymsforewarnalert
From French précaution, Latin praecautio, from praecavere, praecautum (“to guard against beforehand”); prae (“before”) + cavere (“be on one's guard”). See pre-, and caution.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.