boycott
A boycott is a refusal to deal with a particular person, business, or country, usually carried out collectively to achieve economic or political goals. In antitrust law, the term refers to a concerted refusal to deal with a purchaser or seller, which can raise legal issues if it restrains trade. The word derives from Captain Charles C. Boycott, a 19th-century Irish land agent who was socially ostracized after refusing to reduce rents for his tenant farmers. A boycott differs from a strike in that a strike is a refusal to work, while a boycott is a refusal to trade or engage in economic relations
[Last reviewed in August of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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