kibosh

/ˈkɑɪbɑʃ/

Other forms: kiboshed

When you put the kibosh on something, you refuse to let it happen, or you bring it to an end. Your town may put the kibosh on dogs in the park if their owners don't clean up after them.

You'll almost always find the word kibosh in the phrase "put the kibosh on." Kids often feel like their parents are constantly putting the kibosh on their fun, and you may be disappointed when rain puts the kibosh on your picnic plans. The origin of kibosh is unknown: Some experts think it's Yiddish, from a word meaning "subdue." Others trace it to an Arabic word meaning "whip or lash." Still others think it comes from an Irish phrase with various meanings, including "a covering put over the face of a deceased person before burial."

Definitions of kibosh

1. noun

   the event of something ending
   synonyms: halt, stop

   types:

   cessation, surcease

   a stopping

   stand, standstill, tie-up

   an interruption of normal activity

   legal separation, separation

   (law) the cessation of cohabitation of man and wife (either by mutual agreement or under a court order)

   type of:

   conclusion, ending, finish

   event whose occurrence ends something
2. verb

   stop from happening or developing
   synonyms: block, halt, stop

   types:

   embargo

   prevent commerce

   stay

   stop a judicial process

   type of:

   forbid, foreclose, forestall, preclude, preempt, prevent

   keep from happening or arising; make impossible