Definition of "embargo" []

• A government order prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports. (noun)
• A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation. (noun)
• A prohibition; a ban: an embargo on criticism. (noun)
• To impose an embargo on. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""Yes," Castro says, "blockade is an act of war, so Americans prefer the term embargo, a word that is used in legal proceedings ... but in either case, we know that this is pre-election talk, and that he has also said he was open to discussion with anyone.""
• "The simple fact of choosing the word "embargo" or preferring the more fearsome "blockade" marks a quasi-ideological position."
• "There are also concerns that the U.S. trade embargo is complicating Cuba's efforts to safely drill for oil."