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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

seize.

To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈsiːz/[ˈsɪi̯z]
  1. To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.

    transitive
  2. To take advantage of (an opportunity or circumstance).

    transitive
  3. To take possession of (by force, law etc.).

    transitive
    to seize smuggled goods
    to seize a ship after libeling
  4. To have a sudden and powerful effect upon.

    transitive
    a panic seized the crowd
    a fever seized him
  5. Alternative spelling of seise (“to vest ownership of an estate in land”).

    alt-of · alternative · transitive
  6. To bind, lash or make fast, with several turns of small rope, cord, or small line.

    transitive
    to seize two fish-hooks back to back
    to seize or stop one rope on to another
  7. To fasten, fix.

    obsolete · transitive
  8. To lay hold in seizure, by hands or claws (+ on or upon).

    intransitive
    to seize on the neck of a horse
  9. To have a seizure.

    intransitive
  10. To bind or lock in position immovably; see also seize up.

    intransitive
    Rust caused the engine to seize, never to run again.
  11. To submit for consideration to a deliberative body.

    UK · intransitive
  12. [with of] To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or court).

    This Court will remain seized of this matter.
  13. Of chocolate: to change suddenly from a fluid to an undesirably hard and gritty texture.

    ambitransitive
Where this word comes from

Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sāgiō (“to perceive acutely”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.