forestall

[…]

/[…]/ verb

The verdict

“forestall” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - vorwegnehmen, zuvorkommen

Corpus desk

Index DE-forestall · forestall · German

forestall · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for forestall
PropertyValue
Headwordforestall
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[…]
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „forestall“ im Deutschen

forestallsitzt jenseits der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Formen, im Schwanz spezialisierten oder seltenen Wortschatzes.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

forestall is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed […]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

forestall has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is forestall, spelled F-O-R-E-S-T-A-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    vorwegnehmen, zuvorkommen
  2. 2
    aufkaufen
  3. 3
    verhindern
  4. 4
    eine Person am Weiterkommen hindern, eine Person stoppen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how forestall appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "But the Government took no notice of them until it was too late, until the Germans had forestalled us and taken possession of the country, by buying over the chiefs."
  2. "When they came out of the restaurant, a man, shouldering a stick, was running along the snow-covered pavement, lighting the street-lamps, as though in dread of being forestalled by somebody."

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "forestall"?
"forestall" is spelled F-O-R-E-S-T-A-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "forestall" mean?
As a verb, "forestall" means: vorwegnehmen, zuvorkommen
How do you pronounce "forestall"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "forestall" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "forestall" come from?
"forestall" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list