deterrent

comparative more deterrent · superlative most deterrent

1. Serving to deter, preventing something from happening.

plural deterrents

1. Something that deters.

   Along with trial by ordeal, hanging was the most effective deterrent that could be devised in an age without police or prisons.

   1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 175

   4 more examples

   An extension of the system to serve new housing estates on the outskirts of the city, at an estimated cost of about £4,000,000 a mile, is being considered, but the narrow gauge, small clearances, and short platforms are deterrents.

   1955 January, Charles E. Lee, “The Glasgow Underground Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 23

   The salarians believed the genophage would be used as a deterrent, a position the turians viewed as naive. Once the project was complete, the turians mass produced and deployed it. The krogan homeworld, their colonies, and all occupied worlds were infected.

   2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Krogan: Genophage Codex entry

   One argument made by proponents of the death penalty is that it is a strong deterrent to murder and other violent crimes, but evidence shows just the opposite. Whereas the last execution in Canada took place in 1962, in 2011 there were 598 murders in Canada and 14,610 in the United States.

   2014, Jimmy Carter, “Full Prisons and Legal Killing”, in A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 38

   All is well until Treorchy, where the platform is swamped by teenagers who have been attending an event. Around four dozen unescorted 12 to 16 year-olds swarm aboard and begin to run riot through the train. Their behaviour is appalling and the presence of CCTV no deterrent.

   2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 48