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
- foreclosable adjective
- foreclosure noun
- nonforeclosing adjective
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 )
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.
Large investment firms mopped up foreclosed homes after the 2008 housing crash, placing a floor on prices.
Virginia does not have a “right of redemption,” so homeowners are generally not permitted to repurchase the foreclosed property.
From MarketWatch
The Pungs won the appeal, but the county foreclosed on the home anyway to recover the alleged $2,242 tax debt.
The following December, a group of the company’s secured debtholders foreclosed on REV’s assets, putting them in a new entity called Omni Retail Enterprises.
Friday's decision "is solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury," Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in her opinion.
From Barron's
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.
