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boycott - 7 dictionary results

boy⋅cott

[boi-kot]

Use boycott in a Sentence

–verb (used with object)

1.	to combine in abstaining from, or preventing dealings with, as a means of intimidation or coercion: to boycott a store.

2.	to abstain from buying or using: to boycott foreign products.

–noun

3.	the practice of boycotting.

4.	an instance of boycotting.

Origin:
after Charles C. Boycott (1832–97), English estate manager in Ireland, against whom nonviolent coercive tactics were used in 1880

Related forms:

boy⋅cott⋅er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To boycott

boy·cott (boi'kŏt')

tr.v. boy·cott·ed, boy·cott·ing, boy·cotts
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.
n. The act or an instance of boycotting.

[After Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), English land agent in Ireland.]
boy'cott'er n.

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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Boycott

Boy"cott`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Boycotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Boycotting.] [From Captain Boycott, a land agent in Mayo, Ireland, so treated in 1880.] To combine against (a landlord, tradesman, employer, or other person), to withhold social or business relations from him, and to deter others from holding such relations; to subject to a boycott.

Boycott

Boy"cott\, n. The process, fact, or pressure of boycotting; a combining to withhold or prevent dealing or social intercourse with a tradesman, employer, etc.; social and business interdiction for the purpose of coercion.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : boycott

Spanish: boicotear,

German: boykottieren,

Japanese: ボイコットする

More Translations »

boycott

The refusal to purchase the products of an individual, corporation, or nation as a way to bring social and political pressure for change.

boycott

1880, from Irish Land League ostracism of Capt. Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897) land agent of Lough-Mask in County Mayo, who refused to lower rents for his tenant farmers. Quickly adopted by newspapers in languages as far afield as Japanese (boikotto). The family name is from a place in England.

Main Entry: boy·cott
Pronunciation: 'boi-"kät
Function: transitive verb
: to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (as a store, business, or organization) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions —see also PRIMARY BOYCOTT, SECONDARY BOYCOTT
NOTE: A boycott of a business by its competitors, suppliers, or buyers that has the effect of preventing the business's access to the market is a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. —boycott noun

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