Seizure
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 The act of taking possession, as by force or right of law. countable, uncountable
"the seizure of a thief, a property, a throne, etc."
- 2 the taking possession of something by legal process wordnet
- 3 A sudden attack or convulsion, (e.g. an epileptic seizure). countable, uncountable
"He fell to the floor and convulsed when the epileptic seizure occurred."
- 4 the act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property wordnet
- 5 A sudden onset of pain or emotion. countable, uncountable
"He felt the sudden seizure of pain as the heart attack began."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 the act of taking of a person by force wordnet
- 7 That which is seized, or taken possession of; a thing laid hold of, or possessed. countable, uncountable
- 8 a sudden occurrence (or recurrence) of a disease wordnet
- 9 A retention within one's grasp or power; possession; ownership. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Make o'er thy honour by a deed of trust, / And give me seizure of the mighty wealth."
- 1 To experience an epileptic seizure. informal, intransitive
"My doctor prescribed Namility. It made my vision blurry, I told him. He said keep taking it, it'll stop. Next day at work I seizured in the middle of an order."
Example
More examples"The ownership of women begins in the lower barbarian stages of culture, apparently with the seizure of female captives. The original reason for the seizure and appropriation of women seems to have been their usefulness as trophies."
Etymology
From seize + -ure.
Related phrases
More for "seizure"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.