boycott

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“
Some of us believe that such a boycott is an essential component of a campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions that can end the four-decade-long Israeli occupation; others think the better way to pressure the Israeli government is with a more selective boycott focused on institutions and corporations supporting the occupation.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion. See Synonyms at blackball.
  2. noun The act or an instance of boycotting.
  3. Word History
    Charles C. Boycott seems to have become a household word because of his strong sense of duty to his employer. An Englishman and former British soldier, Boycott was the estate agent of the Earl of Erne in County Mayo, Ireland. The earl was one of the absentee landowners who as a group held most of the land in Ireland. Boycott was chosen in the fall of 1880 to be the test case for a new policy advocated by Charles Parnell, an Irish politician who wanted land reform. Any landlord who would not charge lower rents or any tenant who took over the farm of an evicted tenant would be given the complete cold shoulder by Parnell's supporters. Boycott refused to charge lower rents and ejected his tenants. At this point members of Parnell's Irish Land League stepped in, and Boycott and his family found themselves isolated—without servants, farmhands, service in stores, or mail delivery. Boycott's name was quickly adopted as the term for this treatment, not just in English but in other languages such as French, Dutch, German, and Russian.

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Examples (50)

  • Some of us believe that such a boycott is an essential component of a campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions that can end the four-decade-long Israeli occupation; others think the better way to pressure the Israeli government is with a more selective boycott focused on institutions and corporations supporting the occupation. —  MRZine.org
  • Even the Florida boycott is attempting to limit Oprah's market by diminishing her viewers. —  FindLaw Writ - Recent Articles
  • Behind the boycott is a British organization of Muslim consumers, who have imposed a boycott on Israel as well as all Jewish-owned American companies in protest against the fighting in Gaza and the US's support for Israel in the battle. —  The Jawa Report
  • The consequence of the boycott was a 30\% increase in polio cases in Nigeria in 2004 alone [8], and an even higher increase in subsequent years. —  AMBL
  • And what would really happen, assuming their boycott is a resounding success? —  myAsylum
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

blockade ·  disunion ·  embargo ·  coercion ·  ostracism ·  autonomy

Used in the same contextWord Family

boycott:   boycotts ·  boycotting ·  boycotted
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. After Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), English land agent in Ireland.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. From the name of the first prominent victim of the system, Captain Boycott, a farmer at Lough Mask, Connemara, and the agent of Lord Erne, an Irish landlord.
  2. from boycott, v.
 

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/ˈbɔɪkɑt/
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