enjoin

To direct, require, command, or admonish.

Enjoin connotes a degree of urgency, as when a court enjoins one party in a lawsuit by ordering the person to do, or refrain from doing, something to prevent permanent loss to the other party or parties. This type of order is known as an Injunction.

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enjoin v. for a court to order that someone either do a specific act, cease a course of conduct, or be prohibited from committing a certain act. To obtain such an order, called an injunction, a private party or public agency has to file a petition for a writ of injunction, serve it on the party he/she/it hopes to be enjoined, allowing time for a written response. Then a court hearing is held in which the judge will consider evidence, both written and oral, listen to the arguments and then either grant the writ or deny it. If granted the court will issue a final or permanent injunction. A preliminary injunction or temporary injunction are orders made by the court while the matter is being processed and considered, based on the petition and any accompanying declarations, either of which is intended to keep matters in status quo (as they are) or prevent possible irreparable harm (like cutting trees, poisoning a stream, or moving out of the country with a child or money) until a final decision is made. (See: injunction)

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enjoin verb abate, ban, bar, barricade, bid, block, bring to a standstill, cause to halt, charge, command, constrain, curb, decree, dictate, direct, disallow, disapprove, discountenance, embargo, exact, exhort, foil, forbid, forbid by law, forestall, frustrate, give orders, hamper, hinder, hold in check, impede, impose, impose a ban, impose a duty, immose a task, impose with authority, inhibit, insist on, instruct, interdict, issue an order, keep from happening, keep in bounds, lay under embargo, limit, make unlawful, not counnenance, not permit, oblige, order, place under interdiction, place under the ban, positively direct, preclude, prevent, prohibit by legal injunction, prompt, proscribe, put a stop to, put an end to, put under an injunction, put under an interdiction, put under embargo, put under the ban, quash, quell, repress, require, restrain, restrain by injunction, restrict, retard, rule, stem, stop, suppress, thwart
Associated concepts: permanent injunction, preliminary innunction, temporary injunction

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See also: admonish, advise, arrest, assign, ban, bar, coerce, compel, condemn, debar, demand, detail, dictate, direct, enact, enforce, exact, exhort, expostulate, forbid, force, forestall, hinder, impose, inhibit, insist, interdict, necessitate, order, prescribe, press, prohibit, proscribe, request, require, restrain, stop

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TO ENJOIN. To command; to require; as, private individuals are not only permitted, but enjoined by law to arrest an offender when present at the time a felony is committed or dangerous wound given, on pain of fine and imprisonment if the wrong doer escape through their negligence. 1 Hale, 587; 1 East, P. C. 298,304; Hawk. B. 2, c. 12, s. 13; R. & M. C. C. 93. 2. In a more technical sense, to enjoin, is to command or order a defendant in equity to do or not to do a particular thing by writ of injunction. Vide Injunction.