FORECLOSE
foreclose
(verb) subject to foreclosing procedures; take away the right of mortgagors to redeem their mortgage
prevent, forestall, foreclose, preclude, forbid
(verb) keep from happening or arising; make impossible; “My sense of tact forbids an honest answer”; “Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
foreclose (third-person singular simple present forecloses, present participle foreclosing, simple past and past participle foreclosed)
(transitive, legal) To repossess a mortgaged property whose owner has failed to make the necessary payments; used with on.
(transitive, legal) To cut off (a mortgager) by a judgment of court from the power of redeeming the mortgaged premises.
(transitive, originally) To shut up or out; to prevent from doing something.
Synonyms: stop, prevent, bar, exclude
Source: Wiktionary
Fore*close", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foreclosed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Foreclosing.] Etym: [F. forclos, p.p. of forclore to exclude; OF.
fors, F. hors, except, outside (fr. L. foris outside) + F. clore to
close. See Foreign, and Close, v. t.]
Definition: To shut up or out; to preclude; to stop; to prevent; to bar; to
exclude.
The embargo with Spain foreclosed this trade. Carew.
To foreclose a mortgager (Law), to cut him off by a judgment of court
from the power of redeeming the mortgaged premises, termed his equity
of redemption.
– To foreclose a mortgage, (not technically correct, but often used
to signify) the obtaining a judgment for the payment of an overdue
mortgage, and the exposure of the mortgaged property to sale to meet
the mortgage debt. Wharton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition