thwart
THWORTverbMeaning to stop someone from carrying out a plan
Memory hook THWACK! the goalie THWARTS the shot. Dev winds up for the winning goal, but Maya leaps and thwacks the ball away. She thwarts his plan.
The goalie thwarted every shot in the second half.
In context The squirrels’ plan to raid the bird feeder was thwarted by a slippery metal pole that none of them could climb.
Similar foil, frustrate, defeat, stop
Opposite help, assist, enable
From Old Norse thvert, “across”: to thwart is to cut across someone’s path.