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noun ADJ. effective, good, great, powerful, real | the ultimate Defenders of the death penalty clearly regard it as the ultimate deterrent. | nuclear They stressed the need for an independent nuclear deterrent. VERB + DETERRENT act as, be a punishment that will act as a deterrent to other offenders DETERRENT + NOUN effect They were arguing about the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons. PREP. as a ~ The bodies of executed criminals were hung on the city gates as a deterrent. | ~ against a deterrent against cheating | ~ for There is no effective deterrent for these young criminals. | ~ to a deterrent to crime a deterrent to all but the most determined attacker
Oxford Collocations Dictionary