\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.