Meaning & use
boycott
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To refuse to buy, use, attend or take part in something as a way of protesting against it.
Grammar: Takes an object: they boycotted the store.
Patterns
- boycott something
- boycott something over something
Many shoppers boycotted the brand after the scandal.
Several countries boycotted the opening ceremony.
Students boycotted the cafeteria over rising prices.
nouncountable
An organized refusal to buy, use or attend something, carried out to protest or to force a change.
Grammar: Countable, often followed by of or on: a boycott of the vote.
Patterns
- a boycott of something
- a boycott on something
- call for a boycott
The union called for a boycott of the company.
A boycott of the games hurt ticket sales.
The bus boycott lasted more than a year.
Word forms
| third person singular | boycotts |
|---|---|
| past tense | boycotted |
| past participle | boycotted |
| -ing form | boycotting |
Common combinations
- call for a boycott
- Activists called for a boycott of the airline.
- organize a boycott
- They organized a boycott to protest the new fees.
- consumer boycott
- A consumer boycott forced the chain to change its policy.
- boycott a product
- Many people boycott products made with cheap labor.
- lift a boycott
- The group lifted the boycott after the company apologized.
- economic boycott
- An economic boycott put pressure on the government.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shun
- Shun means to avoid someone or something out of dislike, but it is personal rather than organized like a boycott.
- blacklist
- Blacklist means to put on a banned list and is usually done by those in power, while a boycott is typically done by customers or groups.
- embargo
- An embargo is an official government ban on trade, whereas a boycott is voluntary protest.
- snub
- Snub means to ignore someone rudely, which is smaller in scale and not organized like a boycott.
Opposites
Word family
- boycotter noun
- a person who takes part in a boycott
- boycotted adjective
- avoided as a protest
- buycott noun
- deliberately buying from a company to reward good behavior
Commonly confused: boycott or embargo?
boycott vs embargo
An embargo is imposed by governments on trade, while a boycott is a choice made by individuals or groups.
Practice
Protesters urged shoppers to ___ the store until it raised wages.
Choose one answer.
Boycott is what ordinary shoppers do to protest; patronize means the opposite, an embargo is imposed by governments, and a blacklist is kept by those in power.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “boycott”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.