foreclose
Americanverb (used with object)
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Law.
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to deprive (a mortgagor or pledgor) of the right to redeem their property, especially on failure to make payment on a mortgage when due, ownership of property then passing to the mortgagee.
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to take away the right to redeem (a mortgage or pledge).
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to shut out; exclude; bar.
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to hinder or prevent, as from doing something.
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to establish an exclusive claim to.
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to close, settle, or answer beforehand.
verb (used without object)
verb
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law to deprive (a mortgagor, etc) of the right to redeem (a mortgage or pledge)
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(tr) to shut out; bar
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(tr) to prevent or hinder
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(tr) to answer or settle (an obligation, promise, etc) in advance
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(tr) to make an exclusive claim to
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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foreclosesimple
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foreclosessimple
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have foreclosedperfect
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has foreclosedperfect
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am foreclosingprogressive
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are foreclosingprogressive
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is foreclosingprogressive
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have been foreclosingperfect progressive
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has been foreclosingperfect progressive
Past
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foreclosedsimple
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had foreclosedperfect
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was foreclosingprogressive
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were foreclosingprogressive
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had been foreclosingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of foreclose
First recorded 1250–1300; Middle English foreclosen from Old French forclos, past participle of forclore “to exclude,” equivalent to for- “out” + clore “to shut” (from Latin claudere )
Explanation
To foreclose is to prevent something from happening. If you want to foreclose any possibility of getting in a car accident, you should travel by train instead. Foreclose comes from the Old French forclore, "exclude or shut out," which led to its sense of "bar from happening," and also the legal meaning, "bar someone from redeeming a mortgage." If a bank forecloses on a property, they take it away from the person who lives there. This typically happens once the homeowner has missed several payments on their mortgage, the money they owe after borrowing from the bank.
Vocabulary lists containing foreclose
Case Closed: Clud, Clus
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The Wishing Spell
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Ghost Squad
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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:
A buyer could foreclose on the property and potentially change its use to advanced manufacturing such as aerospace or defense, which is in high demand in Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Not only does it create a lien against your home, but your relative could potentially foreclose on the property.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
The association threatened to foreclose on the home if the balance wasn’t settled in full, and the family was also struggling with rising utility costs and insurance premiums, Vetter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Higher prices will foreclose the chances of the over-indebted European countries’ growing their way out of their debt problem.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
“Certain items supposedly from the estate of President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln have surfaced in a house the bank is forced to foreclose on. Do you grasp what this could mean, Mrs. Dowdel?”
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
If the U.S. legally forecloses this question while other nations leave it open, we risk being strategically blindsided.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025
"There is an adequate state ground for the prosecution and that forecloses Supreme Court jurisdiction on that issue," Peck said.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2024
Tyndall’s death forecloses a criminal trial set for next year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
But they shouldn’t adopt a theory of the First Amendment that forecloses such regulation entirely.
From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2023
“The bank forecloses on people’s farms and throws them off their land, and they don’t even appreciate it.”
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
After all, the plaintiffs in Callais were themselves private enforcers of the VRA, and the court didn’t breathe a word about their claims being foreclosed on that ground.
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
Colony Ridge foreclosed on the property three years later, even though Acevedo said she was making payments.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2026
Virginia does not have a “right of redemption,” so homeowners are generally not permitted to repurchase the foreclosed property.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 7, 2026
An A-CAP affiliate, ACM Delegate, foreclosed on all of Glutality’s assets, valued at $25.5 million, in July 2025, according to filings.
From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026
The city of Edmonton foreclosed, and the Pollards lost everything but their house.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
A-CAP was Glutality’s primary lender and became its owner after foreclosing on the venture’s assets in the months before Glutality’s October 2025 petition for Chapter 11 reorganization, court records show.
From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026
That approach could produce a formally narrow decision that nevertheless risks foreclosing meaningful relief for transgender individuals whose discrimination claims would otherwise warrant serious judicial consideration.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2026
Isabella County, in which the court will examine whether government has the right to keep value beyond what is owed in taxes after foreclosing on a home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025
The complaint said Shein was also “instigating and supporting dubious copyright infringement lawsuits” against Temu, which is owned by popular Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo Inc., and foreclosing Temu’s access to suppliers through exclusivity agreements.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
He was on the point of foreclosing a mortgage by which he would complete the ruin of an unlucky land speculator, for whom he had professed the greatest friendship.
From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 1 March 1906 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
