to seize the opportunity
- idiom
- /siːz ði ˌɒpərˈtjuːnɪti/
- When she was offered a scholarship, she knew she had to seize the opportunity and apply immediately.
- seize the opportunities available
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Watch on YouTubeCommunist groups also join in, seizing the opportunity to help start the class war.
- Communist groups also join in, seizing the opportunity to help start the class war.
- Each made their strongest case for how to seize the opportunities and address the threats now on the horizon.
- I think she charged forward and came and seized the opportunity.
- And so for them, it's like they, they kind of really seize the opportunity.
Examples
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Each made their strongest case for how to seize the opportunities and address the threats now on the horizon.
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Immediately, John Redmond seizes the opportunity.
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Now is the time to seize the opportunity ... ... and create something.
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The challenge to music teachers is to seize the opportunity.
Academic text (1994) -
Driven by the desire to increase profits, foreign investors seized the opportunity.
Academic text (2001) -
Most critically, Kenyans must seize the opportunities now available.
Academic text (2009) -
And I encourage you all to reach out and carpe diem, really seize the opportunities that are in front of you.
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But the men then in charge in Washington were too parochial and insular to seize the opportunity.
Academic text (2011) -
But I do think they need to forcefully and enthusiastically seize the opportunity to help their constituents.
Blog text (7) -
Ozal quickly seized the opportunity to fully ally himself with the anti-Iraq coalition.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
Use someone's trust or weakness to get something unfairly
To use an opportunity quickly
Get money or other benefits from a situation, often unfairly
To use resources or chances well to get a good result
To quickly use an idea or chance to get an advantage
To use a good chance to get an advantage
Use an opportunity to do something at a suitable time
Do something quickly to use a good chance before it ends
Act while a good chance is still there
Try a risky action hoping it will work
To use a rising trend or new interest to grow quickly
To accept an offer or chance quickly before someone else does
Act quickly to take an opportunity before others do
To take a chance quickly before other people do
Act quickly to grab an opportunity before it is lost
Antonyms
How Eager
Surface Forms
Morphology
seize + the + opportunity
The meaning 'to take quick action to make use of a chance' is directly and predictably built from 'seize' (to take hold of/take) + 'opportunity' (a chance); the verb + noun composition maps transparently onto the idiomatic sense. This compositional pattern and similar equivalents in many languages make the phrase immediately understandable to a B1 learner who already knows the constituents.
Etymology
Seize the opportunity shows a clear image: seize means to grab quickly and an opportunity is like a small open door that might close. One popular image is someone jumping through that door before it shuts, so seize the opportunity means 'take quick action to use a chance'.