Boycott
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The act of boycotting.
"[W]hat has been the actual effects of the [UFW grape] boycott? As far as one can judge, it has cut down on the grape sales in a few big city outlets. But going into its second year, the boycott is losing steam. The middle class doesn't care."
- 2 a group's refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization in protest against its policies wordnet
- 1 To abstain, either as an individual or a group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest. transitive
"There is probably not a citizen in the United States who wears a hat that has not heard of John Stetson, and does not know that the Stetson hat is one of if not the best made. For some cause the Knights [of Labor] have boycotted the Stetson hats, and have notified all dealers that if they sell them they also will be boycotted."
- 2 refuse to sponsor; refuse to do business with wordnet
- 1 A hamlet in Stowe parish, Buckinghamshire, England (OS grid ref SP6636).
- 2 A surname.
Example
More examples"He organized a boycott of the bus service."
Etymology
Etymology tree English Charles Boycott English boycott From Charles Boycott, an English evicting land agent in Ireland who was subject to a boycott organized by the Irish Land League in 1880. For the surname see Boycott.
From Middle English Boicote, probably from Old English Bōia cot (“Bōia's cottage”). The first element was a common Germanic name of obscure meaning, with parallels in Old Norse and Franconian dialects. Some proposed connections include bugan (“bent”), buan (“live”), or the root of modern bully.