There are many ways to stop something. You can scare it off before it starts, talk someone out of it, hold it in check, cut it short, press it down or crush it flat. Each word in this topic names one of those ways.
Key idea
Before it starts: deter (discourage, often by fear), dissuade (talk out of). Keeping it in check: curb (restrain), curtail (cut short). Pressing it down: repress, suppress, stifle. Crushing it: quash, squelch. Stopping a flow: stanch.
Three of these words share a Latin verb, premere, to press: re-press (press back), sup-press (press under) and, in a roundabout way, the everyday press itself.
The ten words
Common mistake
dissuade is the opposite of persuade. stanch (stop a flow) is also spelled staunch, which also means loyal.
| word | how it stops something | example |
|---|---|---|
| deter | scares or discourages before it starts | a fence deters deer |
| dissuade | talks someone out of it | dissuade a friend from quitting |
| curb / curtail | holds it in check / cuts it short | curb spending; curtail a trip |
| repress / suppress | presses it back / presses it under | repress a sigh; suppress a revolt |
| stifle | smothers it | stifle a yawn |
| quash / squelch | crushes or cancels it | quash a ruling; squelch a rumor |
| stanch | stops a flow | stanch a leak |
dissuade is the opposite of persuade: to persuade is to talk someone into something, and to dissuade is to talk someone out of it. stanch (stop a flow) is also spelled staunch, which as an adjective means loyal.