foreclosure
Americannoun
-
foreclosures
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of foreclosure
Explanation
When a homeowner can't afford to pay her mortgage, she might face foreclosure, which is when a bank repossesses a borrower's house. A bank most often starts foreclosure proceedings against someone who's taken out a loan to buy a house when that person stops making monthly payments. The agreement a borrower makes when she gets a bank mortgage is that she'll pay a certain amount of money every month, and failing to do it means risking foreclosure. The word foreclosure comes from the Latin words fors, "out," and clore "to shut."
Vocabulary lists containing foreclosure
Case Closed: Clud, Clus
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
American History II
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Great Depression and The New Deal
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
County officials said at the time that the foreclosure sale was too good to pass up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
There were 6,376 properties with HOA-related foreclosure filings in the first quarter of this year—spanning initial default notices to completed sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Fronting legal fees is costly and the foreclosure process is time-consuming, said Amilowski, the condo association president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
She said Lehigh Acres has long contended with negative associations from the foreclosure crisis, but that it is steadily shedding that image as it draws aspiring homeowners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
From cancer patients struggling to pay health-care premiums and from people who’d lost their homes to foreclosure.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
We don’t have to live in a world where people profit from tragedy, be it wildfires or a child with cancer, housing foreclosures or weapons manufacturing.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
The figure is also the highest since the first quarter of 2020, when pandemic-era mortgage-relief measures and stimulus payments first led to a huge drop in foreclosures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
“They’re talking about a lot more foreclosures and a lot of loan restructuring.”
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026
This was the 11th consecutive month of rising housing foreclosures.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 7, 2026
Mom and Dad told me that foreclosures happen to a lot of families.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
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.
