containment

3 definitions • 3 examples

the act of controlling or limiting something or someone harmful:

Containment of crowd violence was the police's main concern.

The spreading disease overwhelmed all attempts at containment.

an attempt to keep another country's political power within limits without having a war with them:

The government is pursuing a policy of containment.

Containment was also a policy of the United States and other countries to prevent an increase in Soviet influence after World War II.