Seize word meaning and definition

[verb] capture the attention or imagination of; "This story will grab you"; "The movie seized my imagination"
[verb] affect; "Fear seized the prisoners"; "The patient was seized with unberable pains"; "He was seized with a dreadful disease"
[verb] take hold of; grab; "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"
[verb] take or capture by force; "The terrorists seized the politicians"; "The rebels threaten to seize civilian hostages"
[verb] hook by a pull on the line; "strike a fish"
[verb] take possession of without permission or take with force, as after a conquest or invasion; "the invaders seized the land and property of the inhabitants"; "The army seized the town"; "The militia captured the castle"
[verb] 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"
[verb] 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"

\Seize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Seized}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Seizing}.] [OE. seisen, saisen, OF. seisir, saisir, F. saisir, of Teutonic origin, and akin to E. set. The meaning is properly, to set, put, place, hence, to put in possession of. See {Set}, v. t.] 1. To fall or rush upon suddenly and lay hold of; to gripe or grasp suddenly; to reach and grasp. For by no means the high bank he could seize. --Spenser. Seek you to seize and gripe into your hands The royalties and rights of banished Hereford? --Shak. 2. To take possession of by force. At last they seize The scepter, and regard not David's sons. --Milton. 3. To invade suddenly; to take sudden hold of; to come upon suddenly; as, a fever seizes a patient. Hope and deubt alternate seize her seul. --Pope. 4. (law) To take possession of by virtue of a warrant or other legal authority; as, the sheriff seized the debtor's goods. 5. To fasten; to fix. [Obs.] As when a bear hath seized her cruel claws Upon the carcass of some beast too weak. --Spenser. 6. To grap with the mind; to comprehend fully and distinctly; as, to seize an idea. 7. (Naut.) To bind or fasten together with a lashing of small stuff, as yarn or marline; as, to seize ropes. Note: This word, by writers on law, is commonly written seise, in the phrase to be seised of (an estate), as also, in composition, disseise, disseisin. {To be seized of}, to have possession, or right of possession; as, A B was seized and possessed of the manor of Dale. ``Whom age might see seized of what youth made prize.'' --Chapman. {To seize on} or {upon}, to fall on and grasp; to take hold on; to take possession of suddenly and forcibly. Syn: To catch; grasp; clutch; snatch; apprehend; arrest; take; capture.

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