seize has definitions from the field of military
1
[ verb ] affect

Examples

"Fear seized the prisoners" "The patient was seized with unbearable pains" "He was seized with a dreadful disease"

Used in print

(John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)

As in experience one is seized by given entities and their interrelations and is forced to respond in value feelings to them , so one is similarly seized in the mimetic presentation of images .

As in experience one is seized by given entities and their interrelations and is forced to respond in value feelings to them , so one is similarly seized in the mimetic presentation of images .

(Dell Shannon, The Ace of Spades....)

She did not notice that the customer seized her purchase and turned_away without a smile or a word of thanks .

(Ralph J. Salisbury, "On the Old Santa Fe Trail...)

I seized the rack and made a western style flying mount just_in_time , one of my knees mercifully landing on my duffel_bag - and merely wrecking my camera , I was to discover later - my other knee landing on the slivery truck floor_boards and - but this is no medical_report .

2
[ verb ] take hold of; grab

Synonyms

clutch prehend

Examples

"The salesclerk 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"

3
[ verb ] take or capture by force

Examples

"The terrorists seized the politicians" "The rebels threaten to seize civilian hostages"

Related terms

take kidnap commandeer wrest raven

4
[ verb ] take or capture by force

Examples

"The terrorists seized the politicians" "The rebels threaten to seize civilian hostages"

Used in print

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch,...)

Mr._Eisenhower seized upon the incident of the postcard lost by a Peace_Corps girl in Nigeria to attack the entire Corps as a `` juvenile experiment '' and to suggest sending a Corps member to the moon .

The rebels may try to seize what is left of the October harvest when the floods recede and the monsoon ends in November .

(Amber Dean, Encounter with Evil....)

With a curse , Vince seized the thing nearest , a glass sugar container with a spouted metal top , and threw it against the wall opposite .

5
[ verb ] (military) take possession of without permission or take with force, as after a conquest or invasion

Examples

"the invaders seized the land and property of the inhabitants" "The army seized the town" "The militia captured the castle"

Used in print

(Frieda Arkin, "The Light of the Sea," in The...)

Meeting it without preparation as they did , robbed of anticipation , a common disappointment seized them .

6
[ verb ] take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority

Examples

"The FBI seized the drugs" "The customs agents impounded the illegal shipment" "The police confiscated the stolen artwork"

Used in print

(The Detroit News...)

McNair , 25 , was seized March 20 with four Cubans and accused of trying to land a boatload of rifles in Pinar_del_Rio , about 35 miles from Havana .

(The Nation, 193: 16...)

The maneuvers were held `` in_secret '' after a regional seminar for the Minutemen , held in nearby Shiloh , Ill. , had been broken_up the previous day by deputy_sheriffs , who had arrested regional leader Richard_Lauchli of Collinsville , Ill. , and seized four operative weapons , including a Browning machine_gun , two Browning automatic_rifles and an M-4 rifle .

(Confidential, 9:1...)

It was when she was seized as a material witness that she got the designation she liked best .

7
[ verb ] hook by a pull on the line

Examples

"strike a fish"

Related terms

hook

8
[ verb ] affect

Examples

"Fear seized the prisoners" "The patient was seized with unbearable pains" "He was seized with a dreadful disease"

Used in print

(John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)

As in experience one is seized by given entities and their interrelations and is forced to respond in value feelings to them , so one is similarly seized in the mimetic presentation of images .

As in experience one is seized by given entities and their interrelations and is forced to respond in value feelings to them , so one is similarly seized in the mimetic presentation of images .

(Dell Shannon, The Ace of Spades....)

She did not notice that the customer seized her purchase and turned_away without a smile or a word of thanks .

(Ralph J. Salisbury, "On the Old Santa Fe Trail...)

I seized the rack and made a western style flying mount just_in_time , one of my knees mercifully landing on my duffel_bag - and merely wrecking my camera , I was to discover later - my other knee landing on the slivery truck floor_boards and - but this is no medical_report .

9
[ verb ] take after a conquest or invasion; as of land
10
[ verb ] capture the attention or imagination of

Synonyms

grab

Examples

"This story will grab you" "The movie seized my imagination"

Related terms

intrigue

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