/ ˌɪntəˈviːn; NAmE -tərˈv-/ verb
1.
[ v ] intervene (in sth) to become involved in a situation in order to improve or help it :
The President intervened personally in the crisis.
She might have been killed if the neighbours hadn't intervened.
2.
to interrupt sb when they are speaking in order to say sth :
[ v speech ]
'But,' she intervened, 'what about the others?'
[also v ]
3.
[ v ] to happen in a way that delays sth or prevents it from happening :
They were planning to get married and then the war intervened.
4.
[ v ] ( formal ) to exist between two events or places :
I saw nothing of her during the years that intervened.
► inter·ven·tion / ˌɪntəˈvenʃn; NAmE -tərˈv-/ noun [ U , C ] intervention (in sth) :
calls for government intervention to save the steel industry
armed / military intervention
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent. (in the sense come in as an extraneous factor or thing ): from Latin intervenire , from inter- between + venire come.