preclude
v.to prevent something from happening or to make it impossible. You use this when one situation automatically stops another from being an option.
v.to prevent the occurrence of an event or to make an action impossible. Often implies a logical or structural barrier that rules out a possibility.
“His busy schedule will preclude him from attending the meeting.”
“The existing contract contains several clauses that preclude the company from selling its shares to a competitor.”
“While the initial findings are promising, the small sample size does not preclude the possibility that the results were influenced by external variables.”
The verb is transitive and frequently takes the preposition 'from' followed by a gerund.
Preclude is followed by 'from' and an -ing verb, not a 'to' infinitive.
Usage preclude possibility · preclude use
Learned borrowing from Latin praeclūdere.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.