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
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.
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
Findley, 54, used several aliases to pose as the bogus lender, and threatened to foreclose on Graceland and auction the compound – unless the Presley family settled the claim for $2.85m.
From BBC • Sep. 23, 2025
In their mutually reinforcing preparations to annihilate one another, erase the past and foreclose the possibility of future generations, he concluded, “the superpowers have dutifully embraced this legacy…Adolf Hitler lives on.”
From Salon • Aug. 14, 2025
Hospital bills arrived daily; the uninsured roofer had sent a lawyer after them, as had Grover, who stood ready to foreclose.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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.
