What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Forfeit vs Foreclose - What's the difference?

forfeit | foreclose |

As verbs the difference between forfeit and foreclose

is that forfeit is to suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance while foreclose is to repossess a mortgaged property whose owner has failed to make the necessary payments.

As a noun forfeit

is a penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.

As an adjective forfeit

is lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.

forfeit

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
    • That he our deadly forfeit should release'' (John Milton, ''On the Morning of Christ's Nativity , 1629)
  • A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.
    • He who murders pays the forfeit of his own life.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal / Remit thy other forfeits .
  • Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
  • * Goldsmith
    • Country dances and forfeits shortened the rest of the day.
  • (obsolete, rare) Injury; wrong; mischief.
  • * Ld. Berners
    • to seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance
    • He forfeited his last chance of an early release from jail by repeatedly attacking another inmate.
  • To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules
    • Because only nine players were present, the football team was forced to forfeit the game.
  • To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
  • To fail to keep an obligation.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I will have the heart of him if he forfeit .

    Usage notes

    * Very rarely, forfeit is used as the past tense form and past participle (i.e., the past tense forms and the present tense form are homographs).

    Synonyms

    * (lose a contest) capitulate, surrender * (voluntarily give up) forgo, withgo

    Derived terms

    * forfeits * nonforfeited * nonforfeiting * nonforfeiture

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.
  • * Shakespeare
    • thy wealth being forfeit to the state
  • * Emerson
    • to tread the forfeit paradise
    English irregular verbs English verbs with base form identical to past participle English words not following the I before E except after C rule

    foreclose

    English

    (Foreclosure)

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To repossess a mortgaged property whose owner has failed to make the necessary payments.
    • They have to move out of their house because the bank foreclosed on their mortgage.
  • To cut off (a mortgager) by a judgment of court from the power of redeeming the mortgaged premises.
  • To prevent from doing something.
  • To shut up or out; to preclude; to stop; to prevent; to bar; to exclude.
  • * Carew
    • The embargo with Spain foreclosed this trade.

    Derived terms

    * foreclosee * forecloser * foreclosure * foreclosable