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Glite Dictionary
to commandeer

to commandeer

34 8.5
To take control of things like vehicles, buildings or meetings, often without permission for official use
  • verb
  • /ˌkɒmənˈdɪr/
translation icon : requisar
  • The officers had to commandeer local buses to transport the stranded citizens during the emergency.
  • commandeer airplanes

They will always commandeer the conversation.

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Examples

  • The government commandeered all the hotel rooms in three counties to lodge the officers.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Sarge, I'm commandeering your car.

    Lethal Weapon (1987)

  • Hey, I need to commandeer your vehicle.

    Camp Hideout (2023)

  • Let's see if we can commandeer this vessel cos we're officers of the US Government.

    Pearl Harbor (2001)

  • I'm on official business, and I'm afraid I have to commandeer your vehicle.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Well, I don't want a lift; I really want to commandeer the vehicle.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • I am commandeering this car in the name of PatrolTec Security.

    Sleepover (2004)

  • Most of the shuttles had been commandeered for military use.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I'm commandeering your car.

    Convoy (1978)

  • The sheriff had chased them halfway to Hammond in a commandeered pickup.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

to seize
vsto commandeer
  • Formal
156 4.6

To take something using legal power, often for a short time

is taken by officials for their use, often without permission or by force
to hijack
vsto commandeer
  • NSFW
125 5.7

To take control of a vehicle or meeting by force, often illegally

is taken for official or military use rather than illegal personal seizure
to pirate
vsto commandeer
3 5.6

To take something by force, especially from ships at sea

is taken by officials for public or military need, not as arbitrary theft
to highjack
vsto commandeer
  • US
7.0

To take control of a plane or vehicle by force

is taken by officials for use, not for private illegal takeover

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

How Forceful

to commandeer
34 8.5
to seize
277 3.2
to requisition
  • Formal
12 7.5

Surface Forms

commandeer infinitive
commandeered past
commandeered past participle
commandeering present participle
commandeers third person singular

Morphology

commandeer = command (opaque) = command + eer

Although formed from 'command' + the suffix '-eer', the sense 'to seize or take for military use' has shifted and is not directly predictable from 'command' for average learners.

Etymology

Commandeer comes from the same root as command, which means 'to order'. In older times an officer could order things to be taken for the army, so to commandeer is to take control of something for official or military use, often without permission.