Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or a means of deterring.
  • noun Measures taken by a state or an alliance of states to prevent hostile action by another state.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of deterring, or that which deters; a hindrance; a deterrent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare That which deters; a deterrent; a hindrance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of deterring, or the state of being deterred
  • noun Action taken by states or alliances of nations against equally powerful alliances to prevent hostile action
  • noun The art of producing in one's enemy the fear to attack

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a communication that makes you afraid to try something
  • noun the act or process of discouraging actions or preventing occurrences by instilling fear or doubt or anxiety
  • noun a negative motivational influence

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word "deterrence."

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word deterrence - which doesn't mean Israel is the only country with a foreign intelligence operation inside Iran.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through the Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word deterrence.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word "deterrence."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • That's not the kind of deterrence most people have in mind, but the plain fact is that the United States has on a couple of occasions exercised short - or medium-term deterrence to limit or alter Tehran's behavior.

    The New Republic - All Feed 2009

  • The great thing about deterrence is that you can bluff it.

    Matthew Yglesias » The Missing Envoy 2009

  • As an element of deterrence, on the other hand, the threat to kill ten of theirs for every minor inconvenience to one of ours seems useful and proper, since deterrence is supposed to be a little daft. digamma

    The Damsel Effect 2009

  • It gets to the mindset of this enemy of which you speak, and when you get to issues of proof, deterrence is obviously extremely difficult to prove as an effective strategy.

    Discourse.net: It's Often the Cover-Up that Gets You 2009

  • Clinton understands that deterrence is worth the trouble.

    Clinton touts commander-in-chief credentials 2008

  • Mr. McCain appeals to those who believe that deterrence is the threat of striking back with ten times the blow.

    Second Obama Ad Focuses On National Security - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

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