seizes

verb

present tense third-person singular of seize
1
as in knows
to have a clear idea of a critic with a sharp intellect that is able to seize the most subtle nuances of a work of art

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in arrests
to take or keep under one's control by authority of law seized the leaders of one of the city's major drug rings

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in grabs
to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly seized the escaping balloon just before it got out of reach

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in confiscates
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right Richard III seized the English throne from his brother Edward in 1483

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of seizes Sid is smart enough to sniff this out, and the show seizes the opportunity to raise the romantic stakes through an adorably British expression of mutual libidinousness. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026 That reporting revealed that the state frequently seizes money from legal settlements stemming from medical malpractice, police brutality, workplace injury and other wrongful death lawsuits. — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026 Wilson, meanwhile, seizes on the opening to play teacher’s pet. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 13 Sep. 2026 Obreht is a writer who doesn’t rush into easy patterns of storytelling but seizes control from the jump. — Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026 Better, Cretton seizes small moments to put his stamp on this installment. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026 While Linda seizes, Bradley makes a break for it on a makeshift raft. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 21 May 2026 Dean seizes the moment to confess his feelings for Allie, hoping to turn their friends-with-benefits arrangement into something more. — Nasha Smith, PEOPLE, 15 May 2026 The chef Brooks Headley seizes the day every day, showing us that vegetables are canny, capricious characters, capable of anything. — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seizes
  1. knows
  2. arrests
  3. grabs
  4. confiscates
  5. understands
  6. apprehends
  7. catches
  8. usurps
Verb
  • The prince didn’t have any luck in blocking Kelce, which comes as little surprise given the Chiefs star knows how to avoid defensive players.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Anyone who has worked at a fast-growing company at the edge of technology knows that obligations, circumstances and products change daily.
    — Daniel Kjellén, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of knows
Verb
  • Keith arrests our thinking, and cons us into suppressing our critical faculties with the same kind of internalized surveillance that philosopher Michel Foucault broke down to describe a prison’s use of the panopticon in Discipline and Punish.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
  • Devlin throws a punch at Stone when the chief arrests him for drunken driving.
    — Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026
Definition of arrests
Verb
  • If anyone who is hired to MC one of the largest events in golf grabs a microphone and joins in on ‘f you’ chants directed at a player in the event you're being paid to be a part of, that person is undoubtedly being fired, regardless of gender.
    — Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The suspect runs inside, grabs rolls of lottery tickets, stuffs them into a bag and runs out.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of grabs
Verb
  • Large swaths of the film are composed of close-ups of people’s faces or hands, giving seemingly mundane exchanges and gestures — say, a moment when Evans, unimpressed with Holmes’s egg-whisking technique, confiscates the bowl — greater weight.
    — Alex Barasch, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Unlike most other states, California has its own inspection-and-approval system for fireworks, and confiscates those failing standards.
    — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Definition of confiscates
Verb
  • University of Miami president Joe Echevarria understands where the Atlantic Coast Conference stands in the grand scheme of college athletics.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The smiling, amiable android understands very little about her surroundings, believing that the sun (which recharges her batteries) is a deity that listens to her prayers to be chosen by a human.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of understands
Verb
  • John Early, as anyone encountering his work soon apprehends, chooses the latter.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 7 June 2026
  • Though the team immediately apprehends a suspect, the Marshals end up taking criticism from both sides.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026
Definition of apprehends
Verb
  • Life and social structures in remote river villages are rooted in summer fish camps, where the community catches, processes, and preserves the salmon that feeds them through the winter.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Participants step or jump off a platform more than 40 feet above the ground, experiencing a brief moment of free fall before the rope system catches them and slowly lowers them to the ground.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of catches
Verb
  • California courts have repeatedly refused to rewrite unconstitutional tax statutes on the grounds that this usurps the role of the Legislature or, in the case of an initiative, the people.
    — Jared Walczak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 July 2026
  • After witnessing Sinner miss 16 break points against the same opponent on Friday, Alcaraz would have been forgiven for worrying that something similar might happen to him — especially against arguably tennis’s greatest escape artist, at least until the Spaniard usurps him.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
Definition of usurps

Browse Nearby Words

seized
seizes
seizing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Seizes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seizes. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All