Definition of "deterrence" []

• The act or a means of deterring. (noun)
• Measures taken by a state or an alliance of states to prevent hostile action by another state. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word deterrence - which doesn't mean Israel is the only country with a foreign intelligence operation inside Iran."
• "Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through the Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word deterrence."
• "Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word "deterrence.""