In`hi*bi"tion (?), n. [L.
inhibitio: cf. F. inhibition.]
1. The act of inhibiting, or the state of
being inhibited; restraint; prohibition; embargo.
2. (Physiol.) A stopping or checking
of an already present action; a restraining of the function of an
organ, or an agent, as a digestive fluid or ferment, etc.; as, the
inhibition of the respiratory center by the pneumogastric
nerve; the inhibition of reflexes, etc.
3. (Law) A writ from a higher court
forbidding an inferior judge from further proceedings in a cause
before; esp., a writ issuing from a higher ecclesiastical court to an
inferior one, on appeal. Cowell.