Embargo

Governmental prohibition of ve els leaving port: Civil, when directed against domestic ships; Hostile, when against foreign ships. That of 1807, forbidding commerce between the U. S. and foreign nations, was enacted to compel a change of attitude on the part of Great Britain, but worked great hardship to the people of the U. S. and occasioned much discontent on the part of the commercial element. See NONINTERCOURSE LAW.