noun

• The action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.

  ‘nuclear missiles remain the main deterrence against possible aggression’

  More example sentences

  • ‘they contend that a death penalty is necessary as a form of deterrence’
  • ‘Elsewhere in his treatise he reflects on the possibility of combining nuclear deterrence with conventional deterrence.’
  • ‘The first capability that armed forces need to achieve deterrence is an offensive capability.’
  • ‘Many file-swapping programs are a haven for online porn and provide very little deterrence for minors.’
  • ‘Under the Cold Wart concept of deterrence, clarity was a necessity.’
  • ‘There are few in Washington prepared to run the risks implied in such a deterrence strategy.’
  • ‘He summarized that imprisonment would not serve the goals of punishment, deterrence or rehabilitation.’
  • ‘The presence of armour is reassuring protection and deterrence to hostile action.’
  • ‘It was assumed that any Soviet leader would recognize the logic underlying US deterrence policy.’
  • ‘Also, should deterrence fail, we would want to have a reasonable retaliatory capability available.’
  • ‘The likely reason for the rate is falling is that, more than other types of crime, deterrence works in white-collar cases.’