seize
Verbs
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(v) take hold of; grab
- The sales clerk quickly seized the money on the counter
- She clutched her purse
- The mother seized her child by the arm
- Birds of prey often seize small mammals
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(v) take or capture by force
- The terrorists seized the politicians
- The rebels threaten to seize civilian hostages
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(v) take possession of by force, as after an invasion
- the invaders seized the land and property of the inhabitants
- The army seized the town
- The militia captured the castle
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(v) take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority
- The FBI seized the drugs
- The customs agents impounded the illegal shipment
- The police confiscated the stolen artwork
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(v) seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession
- He assumed to himself the right to fill all positions in the town
- he usurped my rights
- She seized control of the throne after her husband died
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(v) hook by a pull on the line
- strike a fish
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(v) affect
- Fear seized the prisoners
- The patient was seized with unbearable pains
- He was seized with a dreadful disease
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(v) capture the attention or imagination of
- This story will grab you
- The movie seized my imagination