embargo
Americannoun
-
embargoes
plural
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- proscription, interdiction, restriction, ban
verb (used with object)
-
embargoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
embargoed,
past participle, past
-
embargoing
present participle
noun
-
a government order prohibiting the departure or arrival of merchant ships in its ports
-
any legal stoppage of commerce
an embargo on arms shipments
-
a restraint, hindrance, or prohibition
verb
-
to lay an embargo upon
-
to seize for use by the state
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
embargosimple
-
embargoessimple
-
have embargoedperfect
-
has embargoedperfect
-
am embargoingprogressive
-
are embargoingprogressive
-
is embargoingprogressive
-
have been embargoingperfect progressive
-
has been embargoingperfect progressive
Past
-
embargoedsimple
-
had embargoedperfect
-
was embargoingprogressive
-
were embargoingprogressive
-
had been embargoingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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) bar 1 + -icāre causative suffix)
Explanation
An embargo is an order stopping the movement of trade ships into or out of a country. If you can’t get those yummy Swedish fish, perhaps there has been an embargo on trade with Sweden! The fact that ships cannot move during an embargo makes sense from the Latin root of the word, a verb meaning impede with barriers. If one government places a trade embargo on another, it can be an act of war between the two countries. But if an arms embargo is in place, many countries refuse to sell arms to a particular country because it is especially violent. As a verb, the use of embargo is a little broader. If you write an impassioned plea for peace, but the government embargoes it, no one will read your writing.
Vocabulary lists containing embargo
Southeast Asia - Introductory
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Central America and the Caribbean - Introductory
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Southeast Asia - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When Chelsea were placed under a transfer embargo in 2019, the likes of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Billy Gilmour and Callum Hudson-Odoi all emerged as senior players.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
The Darfur arms embargo, in place for over two decades, expires on Saturday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
The former Bosnia international joined a club under a transfer embargo, confining them to free transfers and loans, but still made them promotion contenders.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The U.S. has imposed an embargo against Cuba for more than six decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
In class, Mrs. Brown tries explaining how an embargo works.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
After the 1973 oil crisis, when embargoes led to gas rationing, the country banned crude-oil exports.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
US sanctions and trade embargoes on Cuba have been in place since the early 1960s.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
“Like quotas and embargoes, tariffs are a traditional and common tool to regulate importation,” he wrote in a 63-page dissent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
President Thomas Jefferson’s embargoes and trade restrictions, meant to punish Britain and France, had devastated New England’s port economies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
In an effort to stop Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt imposed ever-increasing embargoes on materiel, such as scrap metal and aviation fuel.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
Drones meeting the thresholds can be exported without a license to most destinations except sanctioned or embargoed countries and certain prohibited end users.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
According to Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, the Olina was "another 'ghost fleet' tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil."
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
“I see, I know and I follow it, but I’m embargoed to say nothing. The public, though — there will be quite a reaction, I’ll say.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2025
He also criticised the Home Office for not detailing the 4,537 legacy cases without a decision when it initially made its announcement in an embargoed press release to journalists.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2024
By mutual agreement, Robinson joined the ranks of officers embargoed from A-block because they couldn’t deal with the sergeant.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
The publisher, Penguin Random House, has tried to keep the book under tight wraps, embargoing the contents and only shipping it to bookstores just before its scheduled release.
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2023
“A lot of people are wondering if you actually achieve anything by embargoing your results when everybody else can figure out how to do it anyway.”
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2019
There are many voices rightly calling for embargoing arms deliveries into South Sudan and a U.N.
From Time ● Oct. 6, 2016
This would save them from embargoing imports or from dumping their own currency and starting competitive currency depreciation.
From Time Magazine Archive
Later that day we had a glimpse of other dangers: Arab oil producers began embargoing all sales of oil to the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
