to inoculate against
3
6.8
- phrasal verb
- /ɪˈnɑkjʊˌleɪt əˈɡɛnst/
:
inocular contra
- To protect your child from common illnesses, you should inoculate against diseases like measles and mumps.
- inoculate children against
Now the schools in a lot of states, I don't know how you can inoculate your child against being taught lies and being socially indoctrinated by school.
- Now the schools in a lot of states, I don't know how you can inoculate your child against being taught lies and being socially indoctrinated by school.
- And if so, how can people inoculate themselves against that?
Examples
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One possibility is a a vaccine that would inoculate you against the bacteria that cause decay.
-
That's how they inoculated themselves against smallpox back then.
Fiction book (1998) -
It's sort of like making sure that children are inoculated against diseases they might encounter later in life.
Academic text (2002) -
I mean, I'm immune to a number of really, really terrible diseases because I was inoculated against them as a child.
-
These factors are amazingly powerful in inoculating children against stress.
Academic text (2006) -
Most countries stopped... inoculating against smallpox in 1979.
-
The researchers were also inoculated against the hepatitis B virus.
Academic text (1994) -
Have you been inoculated against smallpox, diphtheria?
-
Einstein wrote: "We must begin to inoculate our children against militarism by educating them in the spirit of pacifism."
Academic text (2005) -
For instance, in 1966, 100,000 people were inoculated against smallpox in Cabo Delgado.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To keep someone or something safe from harm
∞
1.3
To protect people and things from attack or harm
146
2.7
To protect someone or something from harm
84
1.3
To take care to avoid a problem or danger
65
3.7
Give a shot to a person or animal to protect them from disease
56
3.3
To protect people or things from harm
34
4.4
To keep harmful or unpleasant things away from you
27
6.0
Keep someone apart from others to protect them from harm or criticism
15
3.9
To give someone a vaccine so they do not get a disease
15
6.3
To put a vaccine into a person or animal so they become immune
3
3.8
To protect a person or thing from harm
To give someone medicine that makes their body build protection against a disease
To stop something bad from happening
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'inoculate' (to introduce a vaccine or antigen) with 'against' (indicating protection or resistance): together they mean to introduce protection versus something. This compositional pattern is straightforward and found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would understand the MWE.
Etymology
Inoculate against comes from an old medical practice where doctors put a very small amount of a disease into a healthy person, like planting a tiny seed so the body learns to fight the sickness. So, inoculate against means 'to protect someone or something from' harm or disease.