All 5 Uses of

intervene

in

The Idiot

If I wished to behave nobly, justly, and with delicacy, I ought to bestow half my fortune upon the son of my benefactor; but as economy is my favourite virtue, and I know this is not a case in which the law can intervene, I will not give up half my millions.†
Chpt 2.8

intervene = get involved or come between

Gentlemen, I have no hesitation in telling you that it was the fact of Tchebaroff's intervention that made me suspect a fraud.†
Chpt 2.8 *

intervention = get involved; or come between

I meant to intervene amicably later on and help to improve poor Mr. Burdovsky's position.†
Chpt 2.8

intervene = get involved or come between

Here the voice of Hippolyte suddenly intervened.†
Chpt 2.9

intervened = got involved or came between

It seemed as if he were not intending to speak at all, when suddenly he intervened in such a serious voice that everyone looked at him with interest.†
Chpt 3.4

Definitions:

(1) (intervene as in: intervened in the war)
the process of getting involved to influence an outcome
The exact meaning of intervention can depend upon its context. For example:
- "intervention program for at-risk youth" -- a process of trying to influence the direction of someone's life
- "medical intervention" -- action taken to improve a medical outcome
- "military intervention" -- interference by a government in affairs of another government (in this case to interfere militarily)
- "had a family intervention" -- an organized meeting of family members to encourage someone (who is often surprised) to recognize and work at solving a problem such as substance abuse
(2) (intervene as in: in the intervening years)
something between two other things -- especially the passage of time between two events
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Much more rarely, intervene can mean:
in various senses, including:
- to verbally interrupt -- as in "Not now!' she intervened."
- to be physically between -- as in: "You can't walk from one hill to the other because an impassable river intervenes."