INHIBIT

inhibit

(verb) prohibit, forbid, or prevent from doing something; “Contact between the young was inhibited by strict social customs”

inhibit

(verb) make (someone) self-conscious and as a result unable to act naturally; “his father’s cold and distant demeanor inhibited him emotionally”

inhibit, bottle up, suppress

(verb) consciously restrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior; “suppress a smile”; “he let his anger bottle up until he exploded”

inhibit

(verb) limit, block, or decrease the action or function of; “inhibit the action of the enzyme”; “inhibit the rate of a chemical reaction”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

inhibit (third-person singular simple present inhibits, present participle inhibiting, simple past and past participle inhibited)

(transitive) To hold in or hold back; to keep in check; restrain.

Synonym: Thesaurus:hinder

(Philippines) To recuse.

Source: Wiktionary

In*hib"it, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inhibited; p. pr. & vb. n. Inhibiting.] Etym: [L. inhibitus, p. p. of inhibere; pref. in- in + habere to have, hold. See Habit.]

1. To check; to hold back; to restrain; to hinder. Their motions also are excited or inhibited . . . by the objects without them. Bentley.

2. To forbid; to prohibit; to interdict. All men were inhibited, by proclamation, at the dissolution, so much as to mention a Parliament. Clarendon. Burial may not be inhibited or denied to any one. Ayliffe.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition