prohibition

noun

1. 1

   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

2. 2

   a law forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages

   in 1920 the 18th amendment to the Constitution established prohibition in the US

3. 3

   a decree that prohibits something

4. 4

   refusal to approve or assent to

5. 5

   the period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment