I. boy ‧ cott 1 /ˈbɔɪkɒt $ -kɑːt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Charles Boycott (1832-97), English official in Ireland who refused to reduce rents, so the local people refused to do any business with him ]
to refuse to buy something, use something, or take part in something as a way of protesting:
We boycott all products tested on animals.
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THESAURUS
▪ protest to do something to show publicly that you disagree with something – used especially when a large group of people do this together:
Huge crowds gathered in the capital protesting against the war.
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Drivers blocked roads around the capital to protest about the rising cost of fuel.
▪ march to walk in a large group from one place to another in order to protest about something:
Hundreds of students marched through the city in protest against the employment laws.
▪ demonstrate to walk or stand somewhere in a large group, in order to protest about something:
About 200 people were demonstrating outside the US Embassy.
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Environmentalists have been demonstrating against plans to dump waste at sea.
▪ riot to protest by behaving in a violent and uncontrolled way:
Hundreds of workers rioted after pay negotiations broke down.
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The prisoners were rioting agianst their appalling conditions.
▪ boycott to protest about the actions of a company, country, or industry by refusing to buy something, or refusing to go to a place or event:
They may boycott the next Olympic Games.
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Shoppers are boycotting battery-farmed eggs.
▪ hold/stage a sit-in to protest by refusing to leave a place:
The students have been staging a sit-in to protest about overcrowding at the polytechnic.
▪ go on a hunger strike ( also go on hunger strike British English ) to protest by refusing to eat:
Maynard went on a hunger strike to protest his innocence.
II. boycott 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
an act of boycotting something, or the period of time when it is boycotted:
They are now trying to organize a boycott.
boycott of/on/against
a boycott on GM crops
He called for a boycott of the elections.