embargo

[ em-bahr-goh ]

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.

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 for embargo

4	ban, restriction, interdiction, proscription

See synonyms for embargo on Thesaurus.com

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

The BBC embargoed previews of the Panorama documentary until transmission.
Rupert Murdoch’s Battle With the BBC | Peter Jukes | March 26, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Almost all the hundreds of hours of interviews I conducted were embargoed—that is, not for publication before the end of 2008.
Why I Went Back to Iraq | Thomas E. Ricks | February 10, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
There are even many kinds of industrial raw materials and products which have never been embargoed by the Western Governments.
East-West Trade Trends | Harold E. Stassen
It is understood that both rubber and leather, together with wool, have been embargoed by most of the belligerent countries.
Current History, A Monthly Magazine | New York Times
For the use of such embargoed vessels during the war the usual daily freight is to be paid.
Current History, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June 1918 | Various

Napoleon decreed, and embargoed, and sequestered, with little effect upon national sentiment outside of New England.
Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812 | Alfred Thayer Mahan
The ardent friends of the bankrupt bill embargoed both the others until their favorite measure was secure.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. II of 2) | Thomas Hart Benton

British Dictionary definitions for embargo

embargo

/ (ɛmˈbɑːɡəʊ) /

nounplural -goes

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-goes, -going or -goed (tr)

to lay an embargo upon
to seize for use by the state

Origin of 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.

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