Other forms: foreclosed, foreclosing, forecloses
To foreclose is to take back a property when the loan is not repaid. The bank will foreclose.
It ends the borrower's right to redeem the property, which is what the word actually means. To foreclose an option in general use means shutting it off entirely.
1verbforecloseTo take back a property when the loan is not repaid.
“They threatened to foreclose after six missed payments.”
foreclose is a taking back.
Also accepted in games: repossess
Old French forclore means to shut out, from fors, outside, plus clore, to close.
Proto-Indo-European
*(s)kleh₂w-
Old French
forclos
Middle English
foreclosen
English, today
foreclose
Built from
Partially from Middle English foreclosen, forclosen, from Old French forclos, past participle of forclore (“to exclude”), from for- (“(prefix used to express error, exclusion, or inadequacy)”) + clore (“to shut”), and partially from Middle English forclusen (“to close up”), from Old English forclȳsan (“to close up”), equivalent to fore + close.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA