verb (used with object), ex·clud·ed, ex·clud·ing.
- to shut or keep out; prevent the entrance of.
- to shut out from consideration, privilege, etc.: Employees and their relatives were excluded from participation in the contest.
- to expel and keep out; thrust out; eject: He was excluded from the club for infractions of the rules.
verb (tr)
- to keep out; prevent from entering
- to reject or not consider; leave out
- to expel forcibly; eject
- to debar from school, either temporarily or permanently, as a form of punishment
mid-14c., from Latin excludere “keep out, shut out, hinder,” from ex- “out” (see ex-) + claudere “to close, shut” (see close (v.)). Related: Excluded; excluding.