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✊ To take by force 🚔 To take legally 😱 To affect suddenly ✨ To capture interest
to seize

to seize

77 4.8
Feel a sudden strong emotion or pain
  • verb
  • /siːz/
translation icon : apoderarse de
  • The old man leaned heavily against the sink, seized by sharp pains in his stomach.
  • seize hold of someone

I lost it and dropped like someone seized by narcoleptic sleep.

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Examples

  • The prospect is just dangling there, and we ought to seize it," Campbell says.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Sometimes lawyers have to seize an opportunity even if the timing or their qualifications are not ideal.

    Academic text (2017)

  • It's just the story just seized me and came very fast and very easy.

  • You make it by seizing the moment.

    Hollow Man (2000)

  • But its whole being has been seized with dread.

  • "I was seized by the dreadful fear of going insane."

    Camilla (1994)

  • Over the last 40 years, his memory had faltered to the extent that he couldn't remember his own mother's face, but just by breathing in the air, he was seized by the absolute certainty that this was his village.

    Beau Is Afraid (2023)

  • As the storm approached, she was seized by an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety.

  • He was seized with joy when he heard the good news about his promotion.

  • During the performance, the audience was seized by the intensity of the actor's emotions.

Synonyms

to grab
vsto seize
102 1.6

To get someone's attention suddenly and strongly

is used for sudden strong feelings affecting someone internally not only attention
to grip
vsto seize
50 6.0

To hold someone's attention or emotions strongly

is more about a sudden strong effect rather than prolonged immobilizing hold
to overtake
vsto seize
29 5.1

To suddenly have a strong feeling that you cannot control

is similar but does not always imply loss of control
to sweep off
vsto seize
  • Informal
21 5.6

To make someone feel a sudden strong feeling, often romantic

is about taking sudden strong hold rather than being carried away by emotion
to sweep over
vsto seize
8 4.6

A strong feeling that affects someone suddenly

is about strong sudden affect that can take lasting hold rather than passing through
to get hold of
vsto seize
7 3.4

To feel a strong emotion suddenly that controls you

is about being strongly affected rather than actively controlled by feeling
to sweep away
vsto seize
7 4.6

To feel very strong emotions that you cannot control

is about sudden strong affect that stays with someone rather than carrying them away
to prehend
vsto seize
  • Archaic
9.9

To understand an idea or its meaning

is about sudden strong emotional or physical affect rather than thoughtful mental grasp

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

to alleviate
76 5.3

To make pain, suffering, or a problem less strong

Idioms

to seize the opportunity
10 3.9

Act quickly to use a good chance

Phrasal Verbs

to seize on
19 5.3

To quickly use an idea or chance to get an advantage

to seize up
8 6.5

Stop working properly because of damage or lack of oil

How Strong

to overwhelm
164 4.4
to consume
193 5.3
to seize
77 4.8
to touch
680 2.9
to affect
∞ 3.0

Surface Forms

seize infinitive
seized past
seized past participle
seizing present participle
seizes third person singular

Etymology

Seize comes from Old French saisir, which meant 'to grasp', so imagine a strong feeling grabbing you suddenly. That is why we say a sudden pain or fear 'seized' someone.