Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use seize in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Seize means to deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture. Example: “Rust caused the engine to seize, never to run again.”

Examples of seize by meaning

verbTo take possession of (by force, law etc.).

  • to seize smuggled goods
  • to seize a ship after libeling

verbTo have a sudden and powerful effect upon.

  • a panic seized the crowd
  • a fever seized him
  • This sensation of an object becoming alive is a characteristic that, I believe, seizes all viewers of a van Gogh.2010, Antonio Saggio, A Secret van Gogh: His Motif and Motives, →ISBN, page 11

verbTo bind, lash or make fast, with several turns of small rope, cord, or small line.

  • to seize two fish-hooks back to back
  • to seize or stop one rope on to another

verbTo lay hold in seizure, by hands or claws (+ on or upon).

  • to seize on the neck of a horse

verbTo have a seizure.

  • Nearing what she thought was a climax, he started seizing and fell off her.2012, Daniel M. Avery, Tales of a Country Obstetrician

verbTo bind or lock in position immovably; see also seize up.

  • Rust caused the engine to seize, never to run again.

verb[with of] To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or court).

  • This Court will remain seized of this matter.

More sentences with seize

  • At this point, she seized the occasion to make her own observation.From the entry occasion
  • Iceland's foreign currency market has seized up after the three largest banks collapsed.From the entry seize up
  • It was hard to write as my fingers had seized up with the cold weather.From the entry seize up
  • The child seized upon the cat's tail as soon as it was within reach.From the entry seize upon
  • The seized drugs had a street value of $5 million.From the entry street
  • Their property was seized, denuded and confiscated.From the entry denude
  • She was seized with a bad case of the giggles.From the entry giggles
  • I heard her ideas and seized upon them immediately.From the entry seize upon
  • The Writ of Ayle was an ancient English writ which lay against a stranger who had dispossessed the demandant of land of which his grandfather died seized.From the entry ayel
  • After the raid on USPV, Plaintiffs filed claims with the FBI seeking return of their seized property.2024 January 23, Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr., Snitko v. United States, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2024. From the entry forfeit
  • The Harris campaign immediately seized on Hinchcliffe’s remarks about Puerto Rico.2024 October 28, Danielle Kurtzleben, “Off-color jokes, vitriol take over Trump Madison Square Garden rally”, in NPR. From the entry Hinchcliffe
  • As the photographer took a couple of preliminary photographs of Mandy, Marcus seized the moment.2023 October 26, Francesca Street, “Two strangers moved into an apartment in Prague. Then they fell in love”, in CNN Travel. From the entry twig
  • E seized Asu and clasped her close, eir eyes closed tightly as e sobbed eir relief.2023, Aimee Ogden, “A Half-Remembered World”, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, vol. 145, no. 1-2, whole no. 768 (July/August…. From the entry e
  • Republicans, though, have seized on the unverified material as part of their broader investigation into the Bidens.2023 July 20, Annie Grayer, Marshall Cohen and Jeremy Herb, “Grassley releases internal FBI document about unverified Biden bribery…. From the entry unverified
  • Already, the specter of higher interest rates was causing the housing market to seize up.2022 September 27, Mark Landler, “Truss Takes a Bold Economic Gamble. Will It Sink Her Government?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN…. From the entry specter
  • Living in the US, I have always seized every opportunity to insist things are better in Blighty.2022 January 18, Arwa Mahdawi, “Which is more dysfunctional – the US or the UK? I’ve created a Global Embarrassment Index to figure it…. From the entry blighty
  • When radio became king, FDR was not the only one to seize upon its power.2022, David Gergen, Hearts Touched with Fire: How Great Leaders are Made, page 169. From the entry must-listening
  • He was seized by the retinue and ordered to be made over to the Kotwal.2021 December, Harpreet Kaur, "Guru Tegh Bahadur: Upholder of Democratic Principles", Studies in Sikhism and Comparative Religion, Vol.…. From the entry takhtrawan
  • Though his heart seized at the sight of it, Luc nudged it with a foot.2020, Kayelle Allen, A Stolen Heart: MM Sci-Fi Romance, Romance Lives Forever Books, page 244. From the entry holopresence
  • Without adding antiseize, these plugs can seize or bind to the head.2019, Nicholas Goodnight, Kirk VanGelder, Automotive Engine Performance, →ISBN, page 430. From the entry antiseize
  • Now that Gore signed in Indianapolis, the door is wide open for Hyde to seize that opportunity.2015 August 13, “Chris Simms: ‘Carlos Hyde can be a stud in the NFL’”, in FOX Sports. From the entry bell cow
  • A stun gun disguised as a mobile phone has been seized from a 14-year-old boy in Manchester.2014 March 8, “Manchester police seize stun gun disguised as iPhone”, in BBC News. From the entry stun gun
  • By the end of the month, Japanese forces had seized Tientsin and Beijing.2013, David Mayers, FDR's Ambassadors and the Diplomacy of Crisis, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 19. From the entry Tientsin
  • They've got a buffalo robe!” George seized his brother's outstretched arm.2013, R. E. Mitchell, Souls of Lions. From the entry bundlesome
  • Then, to her annoyance, the emotional, nonaloof, nonproper woman seized her vocal cords.2011, Leslie Parrish, Cold Touch: Extrasensory Agents. From the entry nonaloof
  • The pattern was the same: People seized control by promising to promote certain ideals.2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 23. From the entry freedom
  • He seized a clawful of rubble and hurled it up the shaft.2010 [1973], Cormac McCarthy, Child of God, →ISBN, page 180. From the entry clawful
  • If the Palinistas seize the GOP, they probably cannot take the White House.2009 November 14, Evan Thomas, “Gone Rogue”, in Newsweek, retrieved 10 Jan 2010. From the entry Palinista
  • Or the poets who have kept turning out exhortations to seize the day and gather rosebuds.2009 December 28, John Tierney, “Carpe Diem? Maybe Tomorrow”, in New York Times, retrieved 05 Apr 2015. From the entry gather rosebuds

Meaning of seize

  1. verb To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.
  2. verb To take advantage of (an opportunity or circumstance).
  3. verb To take possession of (by force, law etc.).

Full definition of seize

Questions about seize in a sentence

How do you use seize in a sentence?
Seize is used as a verb. For example: “Rust caused the engine to seize, never to run again.”
What is a short sentence with seize?
“a fever seized him”
What does seize mean?
Seize means to deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: seize (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use seize in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/seize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.