embargo

American  

[em-bahr-goh] / ɛmˈbɑr goʊ /

noun

plural

embargoes

1. 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.

2. an order of a government prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.

3. an injunction from a government commerce agency to refuse freight for shipment, as in case of congestion or insufficient facilities.

4. 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

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verb (used with object)

embargoed, embargoing

1. to impose an embargo on.

embargo British  

/ ɛmˈbɑːɡəʊ /

noun

1. a government order prohibiting the departure or arrival of merchant ships in its ports

2. any legal stoppage of commerce

   an embargo on arms shipments

3. a restraint, hindrance, or prohibition

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verb

1. to lay an embargo upon

2. to seize for use by the state

embargo Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• preembargo adjective

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)

Example Sentences

The market struggled to rebalance after Arab states put an embargo on oil exports.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The most effective use of economic warfare we have seen in recent years was the Chinese rare-earths embargo,” said Fishman, who recently wrote the book “Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare.”

From The Wall Street Journal

We “took” Cuba before President Kennedy initiated his crippling embargo in 1962.

From Los Angeles Times

Cuba, which has been under a US embargo since 1962, confirmed last Friday that it is indeed in talks with its powerful neighbor.

From Barron's

Following the oil embargo induced by the 1973 war in the Middle East, it was Kissinger’s diplomacy that created the International Energy Agency and its strategic oil stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ban
• restraint