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   Fore·close

   /ˌfôrˈklōz/

   

   verb

   • 1. take possession of a mortgaged property as a result of the mortgagor's failure to keep up their mortgage payments: "the bank was threatening to foreclose on his mortgage"
   • ▪ take away someone's power of redeeming (a mortgage) and take possession of the mortgaged property.
   • 2. rule out or prevent (a course of action): "the decision effectively foreclosed any possibility of his early rehabilitation"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French forclos, past participle of forclore, from for- ‘out’ (from Latin foras ‘outside’) + clore ‘to close’. The original sense was ‘bar from escaping’, in late Middle English ‘shut out’, and ‘bar from doing something’ (foreclose (sense 2)), hence specifically ‘bar someone from redeeming a mortgage’ (foreclose (sense 1), early 18th century).

   Scrabble Points: 14

   • F

     4

   • O

     1

   • R

     1

   • E

     1

   • C

     3

   • L

     1

   • O

     1

   • S

     1

   • E

     1

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