- interpose
- interpose 1 inteiject, introduce, insert, insinuate, interpolate, intercalate2 Interpose, interfere, intervene, mediate, intercede all basically mean to come or to go between two persons, two things, or a person and thing.Interpose (see also INTRODUCE 2) may be used in place of any of the succeeding words largely because it carries no further implications, except as these are derived from the context{
the tops of the trees behind him interposed between him and the sun— Forester
}{he should not interpose between other engineers and their clients when unsolicited— Wagner
}{our host . . . interposed and forbade the experiment, pleading at the same time for a change of subject— Shaw
}Interfere (see also MEDDLE) implies a getting in the way of a person or thing whether by crossing his or its path or, more often, by creating a condition that hinders his movement, activity, or vision or its free operation or full effectiveness{parliament interfered to protect employers against their laborers— Froude
}{the atmospheric disturbance interfered with radio reception
}{wooden palings that did not interfere with a wide view— Mackenzie
}Intervene may be used with reference to something that interposes itself or is interposed between things in space or time{a huge and at that time apparently barren waste . . . intervenes between the St. Lawrence basin and the fertile prairie— Sandwell
}{the events of the intervening years— Dewey
}or between persons{the interjection of a third party who has a valid interest, or who intervenes between the physician and the patient—Jf. T. & Barbara Fitts
}or between a person and his interests, work, or goal{the trained self-consciousness, which . . . intervenes between the poet's moods and his poetry— Day Lewis
}{fortunately, mercy and diplomacy intervened and the vengeful sentence was never carried out— Thruelsen
}Mediate often specifically implies intervention between those who are hostile, antagonistic, or otherwise opposed to each other, for the sake of reconciling them or settling their difficulties; mediate usually implies, as intervene need not imply, an interest in both sides or freedom from bias toward either side{Bacon attempted to mediate between his friend and the Queen— Macaulay
}{I want to mediate between the two of you now, because if this breach continues it will be the ruin of us all— Graves
}But mediate may also be used abstractly in reference to something that lies between extremes or contradictories and effects either their union or a transition between them{critics . . . who mediated between extreme points of view— Glicksberg
}Intercede implies intervention on another's and usually an offender's behalf and the use of one's good offices in imploring mercy or forgiveness for him from the one who has been injured or offended{for each at utter need- true comrade and true foeman—Madonna, intercede!— Kipling
}{the Duchess of Aiguillon interceded for Marie de Médicis with Richelieu
}{the conviction that the Western powers would not intercede in favor of the peoples of the satellites— Timasheff
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
