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   Seize

   /sēz/

   

   verb

   • 1. take hold of suddenly and forcibly: "she jumped up and seized his arm" Similar grabgraspsnatchseize hold ofgrab hold oftake hold oflay hold oflay (one's) hands onget one's hands ontake a grip ofgripclutchtakepluckOpposite let go of
   • ▪ take forcible possession of: "army rebels seized an air force base" Similar capturetakeoverrunannexoccupytake possession ofconquertake oversubjugatesubjectcolonizeOpposite relinquishretreat fromliberate
   • ▪ (of the police or another authority) take possession of (something) by warrant or legal right; confiscate; impound: "police have seized 726 lb of cocaine" Similar confiscateimpoundcommandeerrequisitionappropriateexpropriatetake possession ofsequestersequestratetake awaytake overtakedistrainattachdisseizepoindOpposite release
   • 2. take (an opportunity or initiative) eagerly and decisively: "he seized his chance to attack as Delaney hesitated"
   • 3. (of a feeling or pain) affect (someone) suddenly or acutely: "he was seized by the most dreadful fear"
   • 4. strongly appeal to or attract (the imagination or attention): "the story of the king's escape seized the public imagination"
   • ▪ understand (something) quickly or clearly: formal "he always strains to seize the most somber truths"
   • 5. (of a machine with moving parts or a moving part in a machine) become stuck or jammed: "I realized that the mechanism had seized"
   • 6. fasten or attach (someone or something) to something by binding with turns of rope: archaic "Jack was seized to the gun and had his two dozen lashes"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French seizir ‘give seisin’, from medieval Latin sacire, in the phrase ad proprium sacire ‘claim as one's own’, from a Germanic base meaning ‘procedure’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. seizable adjective
   • 2. seizer noun

   Scrabble Points: 14

   • S

     1

   • E

     1

   • I

     1

   • Z

     10

   • E

     1

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