Meaning & use
embargo
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Meanings
nouncountable
An official order that stops trade with another country, or stops particular goods from being bought or sold.
Grammar: Countable and used with on or against: an embargo on oil, an embargo against a country.
Patterns
- an embargo on something
- an embargo against somewhere
- lift an embargo
The government imposed an embargo on weapons sales to the region.
The oil embargo caused fuel prices to rise sharply.
After years of tension, the two countries finally lifted the trade embargo.
nouncountable
An official order not to publish or share certain information until a stated time.
Grammar: Often used in journalism: the report is under embargo until Monday.
Patterns
- under embargo
- an embargo on something
- break an embargo
The press release is under embargo until nine o'clock on Tuesday.
The newspaper broke the embargo and published the story early.
Reporters agreed to an embargo on the results until the ministers met.
verbtransitiveformal
To officially forbid trade in something or forbid the release of information.
Grammar: Takes an object: the council embargoed the shipment.
Patterns
- embargo something
- embargo trade with somewhere
The union voted to embargo all shipments from the factory.
Officials embargoed the report until the end of the week.
Several countries embargoed arms sales to the regime.
Word forms
| plural | embargoes |
|---|---|
| third person singular | embargoes |
| past tense | embargoed |
| past participle | embargoed |
| -ing form | embargoing |
Common combinations
- impose an embargo
- The council voted to impose an embargo on the country's exports.
- lift an embargo
- The president promised to lift the embargo next year.
- an arms embargo
- The UN approved an arms embargo against the warring groups.
- a trade embargo
- A trade embargo left shops with empty shelves.
- under embargo
- The study is under embargo until Thursday.
- break the embargo
- The magazine broke the embargo and lost its press access.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ban
- Ban is a general word for forbidding anything, while embargo is mainly official and usually applies to trade or the release of information.
- prohibition
- Prohibition is a more formal general word for a rule forbidding something and is not tied to trade.
- sanction
- Sanction is a broader penalty, often economic, that may include an embargo among other measures.
- blockade
- Blockade is the use of force to stop goods or people reaching a place, while an embargo is a legal or official ban.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: embargo or boycott? embargo or sanction?
embargo vs boycott
A boycott is when people refuse to buy or deal with something as a protest. An embargo is an official ban imposed by a government or authority.
embargo vs sanction
A sanction is a wider penalty used to pressure a country. An embargo is one particular kind of sanction.
Practice
A news agency receives a report that cannot be published until Friday morning. How is the report described?
Choose one answer.
Under embargo means officially held back until a set time. A boycott is a protest refusal, a blockade uses force, and quarantine is for isolating disease.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “embargo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.