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"She is eighteen, so by law her father cannot ... her marriage."
A. avoid
B. defeat
C. prevent
D. fail
Can anyone please explain to me why "prevent" is chosen ?
I feel it make sense but can't explain know why.
And I've also looked up in the dictionary, all of them share the same meaning "to stop something from being successful or happening".

Thanks in advance.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Anonymous all of them share the same meaning "to stop something from being successful or happening".

Not really.

'Avoid' = keep away from doing—but the father is not marrying anyone.
'Defeat' = win against an opponent—but a marriage is not an opponent
'Fail' = not succeed— and we succeed in doing something (Verb), not 'marriage' (a noun).

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks for the reply.
But i take these from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

- avoid : 1 to prevent sth bad from happening
~ sth The accident could have been avoided.
They narrowly avoided defeat.
- defeat : 2 ~ sth to stop sth from being successful
The motion was defeated by 19 votes.
Staying late at the office to discuss shorter working hours rather defeats the object of the exercise ! -

- fail : 1 to not be successful in achieving sth
~ in sth I failed in my attempt to persuade her.

I understand that "fail" is accompanied with "in" so it's unacceptable. But what about "avoid" or "defeat" ?

Mister Micawber · Answer

I have already explained as best I can.  Perhaps another member can get through to you.

Enoon · Answer

AnonymousThanks for the reply.But i take these from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.- avoid : 1 to prevent sth bad from happening ~ sth The accident could have been avoided. They narrowly avoided defeat.- defeat : 2 ~ sth to stop sth from being successful The motion was defeated by 19 votes. Staying late at the office to discuss shorter working hours rather defeats the object of the exercise ! -- fail : 1 to not be successful in achieving sth ~ in sth I failed in my attempt to persuade her. I understand that "fail" is accompanied with "in" so it's unacceptable. But what about "avoid" or "defeat" ?

The meanings in the Oxford are extensions of the core meanings that Mr Micawber gave you, figurative additional meanings. The import of the core meaning survives in the extended meaning, and that makes them different in usage.

To avoid something is to dodge it, to not be there when it arrives. The accident could have been sidestepped, dodged, averted by steering around it. The core meaning of "avoid" is seen in "Nancy has been avoiding me all day." Dad cannot stop her marriage by avoiding it.

To defeat something is to overcome it in battle. You can only defeat something that is fighting. To defeat a motion is jargon, but if you oppose it, it is fighting you, in a way. A proposal (shorter working hours) has to fight to be accepted. The wedding is not fighting Dad.

To fail is not English in that context, as Mr Micawber has already elucidated. You can't fail anything in that way.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much.

I think I can understand with the core meaning.
But I have another question. How do you know which is the core meaning when you look up a word dictionary ? Should I use another dictionary ?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousHow do you know which is the core meaning when you look up a word dictionary ? Should I use another dictionary ?

It may be helpful to use different dictionaries:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/avoid
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/avoid?r=66
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/avoid

Enoon · Answer

AnonymousThank you very much. I think I can understand with the core meaning.But I have another question. How do you know which is the core meaning when you look up a word dictionary ? Should I use another dictionary ?

That's a tough question. I think the American Heritage Dictionary is best for that. Their first definition under an entry seems to be the basic one. You can get to it through Onelook ( http://www.onelook.com/ ). The dictionaries for learners are a little too helpful for this and try to present all the different ways a word can be used. MW and Webster present the definitions in arbitrary order, as far as I can tell.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousBut I have another question. How do you know which is the core meaning when you look up a word dictionary ? Should I use another dictionary ?

The word's meaning in your reading material might not always be the "core" meaning (the first entry). So you have to look at the example sentences to match the context.

Example: The word bow

After the performance, the actor took a bow.
The hunter always took a bow and arrows with him when he went into the forest.
The musician took a bow from the shelf and picked up his violin.
The captain stood on the bow and looked into the sea.
The gift was decorated with a large bow.

Zeneclick · Answer

Good question, I think all above answers are very good and interesting. However, I want to share my oppinion ^ ^!
I think, in terms of civil law, 18 is enough for marriage and, therefore, her father cannot "prevent" the marriage.
- Avoid: The sentence with "avoid" sounds like father and daughter get married together
- Defeat: I think "defeat" is usually used in cases related to war, battle, is this right ??
- Prevent: The sentence shows an story that (in summary): the father hates bridegroom and fail in effort of hinder the marriage between the man with his daughter
- Fail: I cannot understand mean of the sentence

zeneclick,

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