foreclose

verb

fore·​close (ˌ)fȯr-ˈklōz 

foreclosed; foreclosing; forecloses

transitive verb

1

: to shut out : preclude

2

: to hold exclusively

3

: to deal with or close in advance

4

: to subject to foreclosure proceedings

intransitive verb

: to foreclose a mortgage

Examples of foreclose in a Sentence

They've been unable to make their mortgage payments, and the bank has threatened to foreclose.

The bank has threatened to foreclose their mortgage.

Recent Examples on the Web

The filing of the amicus brief does not foreclose the tribes from bringing their own litigation against Kalshi—or Crypto.com, which similarly filed a lawsuit against New Jersey regulators after receiving a cease-and-desist letter demanding its sports prediction markets shutter in the state. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 23 June 2025

The Court first noted that BAL was foreclosing on its lien against Addington's 36% interest in Ultra. —Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025

At the same time, Mr. Putin — a leader who likes to keep his options open and hedge his bets — doesn’t want to foreclose the possibility of a war-ending settlement. —Anton Troianovski, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025

Such an outcome would likely prolong regional conflict and foreclose any possibility of further Arab-Israeli normalization in the near term. —Vali Nasr, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French forclos, past participle of forclore, forsclore, from fors outside (from Latin foris) + clore to close — more at forum

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for foreclose

• agarose
• aliquots
• amigos
• anthracnose
• bottlenose
• buffaloes
• bungalows
• calicoes
• cameos
• commandos
• conversos
• decompose

Kids Definition

foreclose

verb

fore·​close (ˈ)fōr-ˈklōz 

(ˈ)fȯr-

: to take legal measures to end a mortgage and take possession of the mortgaged property because the conditions of the mortgage have not been met

foreclosure

-ˈklō-zhər

noun

Legal Definition

foreclose

verb

fore·​close fōr-ˈklōz 

transitive verb

: to subject to foreclosure proceedings

intransitive verb

: to foreclose a mortgage or other security interest compare repossess, seize sense 2

Etymology

Anglo-French forclos, past participle of foreclore to preclude, prevent, from fors outside + clore to close