0 past simple and past participle of foreclose --
1 (especially of banks) to take back property that was bought with borrowed money because the money was not being paid back as formally agreed: --
The bank is threatening to foreclose on the family's house.
2 to prevent something from being considered as a possibility in the future: --
The leader's aggressive stance seems to have foreclosed any chance of diplomatic compromise.
We have strong views because sometimes mortgages are foreclosed in painful circumstances, but at least they concern private property rights.
We all know that the number of those who have foreclosed on their mortgages has increased about 10 times.
As he could not keep up his payments, the finance trust foreclosed on his lorry.
If he acquiesces, the case will be foreclosed.
The banks, controlled by robber barons, have foreclosed and bought up that food.
I have not had a single letter of complaint that a council or a building society has foreclosed.
Such a coalition (which could be of "absolutist" or "progressive" origins) foreclosed the patronage option and forced the party to employ other, more collective, political appeals.
The personalisation of state power, and the disregard for due legal and constitutional processes under military rule, has also foreclosed the development of enduring institutional responses to minority problems.
