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say it: seez
seize is a verb meaning "take hold of; grab". It is pronounced /ˈsiz/ — seez. It carries 8 recorded senses.
take or capture by force
“The terrorists seized the politicians”
“The rebels threaten to seize civilian hostages”
take possession of by force, as after an invasion
“the invaders seized the land and property of the inhabitants”
“The army seized the town”
“The militia captured the castle”
seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession
“He assumed to himself the right to fill all positions in the town”
“he usurped my rights”
“She seized control of the throne after her husband died”
affect
“Fear seized the prisoners”
“The patient was seized with unbearable pains”
“He was seized with a dreadful disease”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for seize come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.