foreclosure

noun

fore·​clo·​sure (ˌ)fȯr-ˈklō-zhər 

: 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

By one measure, foreclosures are up 18% year-over-year. —Fortune, 8 Oct. 2025

The worst foreclosure rates were reported in Nevada, South Carolina and Florida—states which boomed during the pandemic home-buying frenzy and which are now facing starker corrections than most of the country. —Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025

The Telegraph reported that Pickett paid off overdue property taxes earlier this year, avoiding a foreclosure sale, and Pickett told the committee that there is a pending appeal over the property’s higher assessment value from 2023. —Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025

For American farmers who export their harvests directly to Asia, the evaporation of Chinese demand for soybeans -- at a time when fertilizer and other inputs have become more expensive -- could potentially be devastating, and lead to bankruptcies and foreclosures. —Matt Rivers, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for foreclosure

• nondisclosure
• postexposure
• closure
• crozier
• hosier
• mosher
• composure
• cynosure
• disclosure
• enclosure
• exposure
• inclosure

Legal Definition

foreclosure

noun

fore·​clos·​ure fōr-ˈklō-zhər 

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