Dictionary entry

Inhibition

Webster's Dictionary 1913

In′hi‐bi″tion (?), n. [L. inhibitio: cf. F. inhibition.]

1. The act of inhibiting, or the state of being inhibited; restraint; prohibition; embargo.

2. (Physiol.) A stopping or checking of an already present action; a restraining of the function of an organ, or an agent, as a digestive fluid or ferment, etc.; as, the inhibition of the respiratory center by the pneumogastric nerve; the inhibition of reflexes, etc.

3. (Law) A writ from a higher court forbidding an inferior judge from further proceedings in a cause before; esp., a writ issuing from a higher ecclesiastical court to an inferior one, on appeal. Cowell.