All 9 Uses

intervene
in
Hillbilly Elegy
(Edited)

The would-be thief could barely crawl, so Mamaw approached him, raised the business end of her rifle to the man's head, and prepared to finish the job. Luckily for him, Uncle Pet intervened.
p. 15.7

intervened = interfered (to prevent something from happening)
Papaw quit drinking in 1983, a decision accompanied by no medical intervention and not much fanfare.
p. 46.6

intervention = procedure to influence a medical outcome
Mamaw, lurking nearby, intervened in what was certain to be another schoolyard cage match.
p. 67.6

intervened = interfered (to prevent something from happening)
The blow never came—Bob never was physically abusive—and my intervention somehow ended the fight.
p. 71.5

intervention = involvement
Even the fight that went too far—when I thought Bob was about to hit me—was less about a brave kid who intervened and more about a spectator who got a little too close to the action.
p. 74.4

intervened = got involved (to prevent something from happening)
Mamaw intervened before things got out of hand, but it's a miracle we didn't crash and die: Mom driving and slapping the kids in the backseat; Mamaw on the passenger side, slapping and screaming at Mom.
p. 84.9
So I didn't miss the irony of lying to a therapist (to protect Mom) lest I ignite another intervention by the county children's services.
p. 121.6 *

intervention = involvement
Other people who have overcome the odds cite the same sorts of interventions.
p. 239.5

interventions = acts of influencing the direction of people's lives
Yet there's precious little to support her now, when an intervention might help.
p. 245.2

intervention = process of taking actions to influence the direction of someone's life

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Grouped by 2 Meanings

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."

intervene in Hillbilly Elegy (Edited)

intervene
in
Hillbilly Elegy
(Edited)