em·bar·go 
(ĕm-bärgō)
(ĕm-bärgō)n. pl. em·bar·goes
1. A government order prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.
2. A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation.
3. A condition placed on the release of certain information, such as the contents of a press release or the identity of the winner of a contest, stipulating that such information not be made public for a stated time.
4. A prohibition; a ban: an embargo on criticism.
tr.v. em·bar·goed, em·bar·go·ing, em·bar·goes
To impose an embargo on.
[Spanish, from embargar, to impede, from Vulgar Latin *imbarricāre, to barricade : Latin in-, in; see EN-1 + Vulgar Latin *barricāre, to barricade (from *barrīca, barrel, barrier, from *barra, bar, barrier).]