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
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American History II
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The Great Depression and The New Deal
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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:
Examples include funds to avoid eviction or foreclosure, receive medical care, and pay for funeral expenses or tuition.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
During probate, you, as executor, paid the necessary expenses to avoid tax liens, penalties or possible foreclosure while probate was taking place.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
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
The neighbors to the south of us moved out and their place is in foreclosure.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
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
In the most extreme cases, they are pursuing foreclosures on these properties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
In Connecticut, residential foreclosures have increased about 34% since 2020 but remain below 2019 levels, according to property-data provider Attom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“They’re talking about a lot more foreclosures and a lot of loan restructuring.”
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026
The unemployment caused home foreclosures, leading to shortfalls in property tax receipts, and therefore holes in the school budget.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
