foreclosure

noun

fore·​clo·​sure (ˌ)fȯr-ˈklō-zhər How to pronounce foreclosure (audio)
: an act or instance of foreclosing
specifically : a legal proceeding that bars or extinguishes a mortgagor's right of redeeming a mortgaged estate

Examples of foreclosure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Waves of slumping values, loan delinquencies, and foreclosures have haunted hotels, office buildings, apartment complexes, and even vacant land throughout the Bay Area, including Santa Clara County. George Avalos, Mercury News, 7 July 2025 Cape Coral was at the center of the 2008 bursting of the U.S. housing market's bubble, with a speculative mania taking over the city in the years leading to the crisis, and is still Florida's foreclosure capital. Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025 Many never recovered from a cataclysmic event such as a foreclosure that left them in a vicious cycle where bad credit scores (among many factors) kept them from accessing the economic necessities needed to rebuild. Chi Chi Wu, Chicago Tribune, 3 July 2025 The receiver, Prodigy Properties, took control of the building after a February 2024 foreclosure filing against the owner, Tom Neyer of Neyer Holdings Corp., for defaulting on the bank loan used to finance redevelopment of the property. Randy Tucker, The Enquirer, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for foreclosure

Word History

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foreclosure was in 1713

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Cite this Entry

“Foreclosure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreclosure. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.

Legal Definition

foreclosure

noun
fore·​clos·​ure fōr-ˈklō-zhər How to pronounce foreclosure (audio)
1
: a legal proceeding that bars or extinguishes a mortgagor's equity of redemption in mortgaged real property see also deficiency judgment at judgment, redeem, right of redemption, statutory foreclosure, strict foreclosure sense 1
2
: the extinguishment (as under the provisions of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code) of the rights of a debtor in personal property subject to a security interest by judicial proceedings and especially by judicial sale see also strict foreclosure sense 2

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