ˌpɹəʊ(h)ɪˈbɪʃən ˌpɹoʊ(h)ɪˈbɪʃən səˈpɹɛʃən the action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof) they were restrained by a prohibition in their charter a medical inhibition of alcoholic beverages he ignored his parents' forbiddance (psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires the quality of being inhibited (physiology) the process whereby nerves can retard or prevent the functioning of an organ or part the inhibition of the heart by the vagus nerve