Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia - n. The act of engrossing the
possession or control of goods for sale; specifically, in old
English law, the buying or contracting for any merchandise or
provisions coming in the way to market, or before market-hours,
or dissuading persons from bringing their goods or provisions to
that market, or persuading them to enhance the price there: it
was formerly a punishable offense. - v. present participle of
forestall. - n. the act of preventing something by anticipating
and disposing of it effectively “AFAIK, some states have such a
system set up for pools of lawyers to defend indigents and/or
capital cases (where the state has an interest in forestalling
“ineffective counsel” appeals and wants to ensure that suitably
qualified lawyers are onboard).” “The Academy succeeded in
forestalling labor unrest for five years, but when the studio
executives used the occasion of Roosevelt's bank holiday in 1933
to cut screenwriters 'salaries (though not their own), the
writers rebelled.”