boycott
/ˈbɔɪkɒt/US/ˈbɔɪkɑt/
boycott verb: to abstain, either as an individual or a group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest.
Verb
boycott (third-person singular simple present boycotts, present participle boycotting, simple past and past participle boycotted)
- To abstain, either as an individual or a group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest.
- 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...1886 April 1, “Knights of Labor”, in Railway Conductors' Monthly, volume 3, number 4, Chicago, page 214
- Unbowed after two years in jail, nine of the defendants boycotted the trial, refusing even to talk to their lawyers.1998 July 3, James Brooke, “Anti-Government Freemen Are Found Guilty of Fraud”, in New York Times, retrieved 08 Aug 2012
Noun
boycott (plural boycotts)
- 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.1969 December 19, John Chamberlain, “The Boycott is a Boomerang”, in Meriden Journal
- UFW and Chile solidarity boycotts of grapes had very little contact with one another, despite the extensive connections between California and Chilean fruit industries.2013 December 23, Heidi Tinsman, Buying into the Regime: Grapes and Consumption in Cold War Chile and the United States, Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 20
- Synonyms:
- taboo
Proper noun capitalized: Boycott
Boycott
boycott meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
boycott in Hindi
- to abstain from dealing with a person or organisation as a protest
- बहिष्कार करना bahiṣkār karnā
- the act of boycotting
- बहिष्कार bahiṣkār
boycott in Tamil
- ஒதுக்கிப்புறக்கணி, அசட்டை செய், ஒதுக்கு, ஒன்றியொதுக்கல், தள்ளிவை, புறக்கணி
boycott in Marathi
- to abstain from dealing with a person or organisation as a protest
- बहिष्कार टाकणे bahiṣkār ṭākṇe
- the act of boycotting
- बहिष्कार bahiṣkār
boycott in Urdu
- to abstain from dealing with a person or organisation as a protest
- مُقاطَعَہ کَرْنا muqāta'a karnā
- the act of boycotting
- مُقاطَعَہ muqāta'a, بائی کاٹ bāī kāṭ
More languagesFewer languages
- boycott in Bengali
- বর্জন borjon
- boycott in Malayalam
- ബഹിഷ്കരിക്കുക
- boycott in Kannada
- ಹೊರಗಿಡು, ಹೊರಮಾಡು
- boycott in Punjabi
- ਬਾਈਕਾਟ, ਬਾਈਕਾਟ ਕਰਨਾ, ਬਾਈਕਾਟ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
- boycott in Gujarati
- બહિષ્કાર bahiṣkār
- boycott in Tagalog
- boykot
- boycott in Arabic
- قَاطَعَ qāṭaʕa, مُقَاطَعَة muqāṭaʕa
- boycott in Malay
- memboikot, pemboikotan, boikot
- boycott in Indonesian
- memboikot, boikot
- boycott in Thai
- คว่ำบาตร kwâm-bàat, การคว่ำบาตร gaan-kwâm-bàat
- boycott in Vietnamese
- tẩy chay, sự tẩy chay
Examples of boycott in a sentence
- 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.1886 April 1, “Knights of Labor”, in Railway Conductors' Monthly, volume 3, number 4, Chicago, page 214:
- But even if you weren't boycotting the film on the basis of its disgraceful necrobestiality theme, boycotting it on the basis of its vampires is reason enough.2012, Charlie Brooker, I Can Make You Hate:
- Consumers are using boycotts as a tool to call corporations out for their support of Israel’s war on Gaza.2023 December 14, Al Jazeera, Are the boycotts against Israel making an impact?, number Israel-Gaza war aftermath:
- Labor movements are a primary arena in which the boycott has been used, most notably in the grape boycott from 1965 to 1978.2018 January 31, Sunaina Maira, Boycott!: The Academy and Justice for Palestine, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 36:
Synonyms of boycott
Antonyms
Forms of boycott
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | boycotts |
| present participle | boycotting |
| past participle | boycotted |
| past | boycotted |
| Noun | |
| plural | boycotts |
Origin of 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.
Words formed from boycott
Questions about boycott
- What does boycott mean?
- Boycott means to abstain, either as an individual or a group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest.
- What is boycott in Hindi?
- Boycott in Hindi is बहिष्कार करना (bahiṣkār karnā), बहिष्कार (bahiṣkār). See Boycott meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use boycott in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is boycott?
- Boycott can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce boycott?
- Boycott is pronounced /ˈbɔɪkɒt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of boycott?
- The past tense of boycott is boycotted.
Words near boycott in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: boycott (page history and authors); Boycott (page history and authors); boycott (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); boycott (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); boycott (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); boycott (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-boycott.wav.
Cite this entry: “boycott.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/boycott. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.