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embargo

[ em-bahr-goh ]
/ ɛmˈbɑr goʊ /
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See synonyms for: embargo / embargoed / embargoing on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural em·bar·goes.
any restriction imposed upon commerce by edict, especially against a certain country as a penalty or to induce compliance with demands or legal obligations: The United Nations fact-finding mission recommended the imposition of an arms embargo and other targeted economic sanctions on the rogue state.The software may not be exported into any country with which the United States maintains a trade embargo prohibiting the shipment of goods.
an order of a government prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.
an injunction from a government commerce agency to refuse freight for shipment, as in case of congestion or insufficient facilities.
a restraint or hindrance; prohibition: A one-year embargo on her published dissertation allowed only the title, abstract, and citation information to be released to the public.
verb (used with object), em·bar·goed, em·bar·go·ing.
to impose an embargo on.
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Origin of embargo

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Spanish, derivative of embargar “to hinder, embarrass,” from unattested Vulgar Latin imbarricāre, equivalent to im- im-1 + unattested -barricāre (barr(a) bar1 + -icāre causative suffix)

OTHER WORDS FROM embargo

pre·em·bar·go, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH embargo

boycott, embargo
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use embargo in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for embargo

embargo
/ (ɛmˈbɑːɡəʊ) /

noun plural -goes
a government order prohibiting the departure or arrival of merchant ships in its ports
any legal stoppage of commercean embargo on arms shipments
a restraint, hindrance, or prohibition
verb -goes, -going or -goed (tr)
to lay an embargo upon
to seize for use by the state

Word Origin for embargo

C16: from Spanish, from embargar, from Latin im- + barra bar 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for embargo

embargo

A governmental restriction on trade for political purposes. The objective is to put pressure on other governments by prohibiting exports to or imports from those countries.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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