All 5 Uses

intervene
in
Perfect Chemistry
(Auto-generated)

I wish my dad was here to intervene. But he went directly to his study to check his e-mails right after coming home. I wish he'd act as a referee instead of sitting on the sidelines.
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intervene = get involved
I can prevent the jumping in from happening but only if Carlos is willing to let me intervene.†
Should we intervene?†
"This looks suspiciously like an intervention," I tell them.†
Sierra says, "Not an intervention, Brit.†

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."