seize

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word seize different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of seize are clutch, grab, grasp, snatch, and take. While all these words mean "to get hold of by or as if by catching up with the hand," seize implies a sudden and forcible movement in getting hold of something tangible or an apprehending of something fleeting or elusive when intangible.

seized the suspect

When might clutch be a better fit than seize?

While the synonyms clutch and seize are close in meaning, clutch suggests avidity or anxiety in seizing or grasping and may imply less success in holding.

clutching her purse

How are the words grab and snatch related as synonyms of seize?

Grab implies more roughness or rudeness than snatch.

grabbed roughly by the arm

When is it sensible to use grasp instead of seize?

The words grasp and seize are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, grasp stresses a laying hold so as to have firmly in possession.

grasp the handle and pull

How do snatch and seize relate to one another?

Snatch suggests more suddenness or quickness but less force than seize.

snatched a doughnut and ran

When could take be used to replace seize?

The words take and seize can be used in similar contexts, but take is a general term applicable to any manner of getting something into one's possession or control.

take some salad from the bowl

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 seize Trump’s parade will also occur on the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Letter of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, published in Italy after Benito Mussolini seized power. Elisa Manfredini, Time, 14 June 2025 Hanover seized the lead in the first five minutes thanks to senior fly half Lochlan Garvey, who scored the try and hit the conversion. Marcello Rossetti, Boston Herald, 14 June 2025 When Klarna struck a partnership deal with food delivery group DoorDash in March, journalists seized on the notion of consumers paying for pizzas in installments as evidence of BNPL lenders tempting customers to overextend in a fragile economy. Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 13 June 2025 May 10: Ethan Allen and Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga, Second Continental Congress meets. Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 13 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for seize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seize
Verb
  • Ranked from the top, they are understood to be The Eastern Gate, The Thaw, Spain’s When No One Sees Us, X-rated Queen, and A Decent Man.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2025
  • These locations offered some refuge from legal risk at a time when the world had yet to understand or accept digital assets.
    Irina Heaver, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
Verb
  • Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, was initially arrested in June 2019, along with Troconis, and charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
    Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 19 June 2025
  • Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was arrested Sunday night after an intense manhunt and faces both state and federal murder charges, including multiple counts of murder and stalking.
    Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • In the few months since its launch, JD.com has grabbed 7.5% of China’s food-delivery market after its daily meal orders reached 20 million on May 13, according to a May 14 research note from Blue Lotus Capital Advisors.
    Yue Wang, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
  • To help keep your home safe (and know when your Prime Day packages arrive), grab a Ring Battery Doorbell with Indoor Cam for under $150.
    Laura Lu, Parents, 17 June 2025
Verb
  • The Pennsylvania State Game Commission confiscated the wildcats as part of an ongoing investigation.
    Greta Cross, USA Today, 12 June 2025
  • Police would have the power to ticket, impound vehicles, confiscate personal property, revoke licenses and levy heavy fines.
    Paul Vallas, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2025
Verb
  • As someone who lost their father before doing Top Chef and knowing the fire that can ignite someone going into this competition is unattainable.
    Buddha Lo, People.com, 13 June 2025
  • Newsom said in a court filing on Thursday that troops had moved beyond those allowable duties to actively assist ICE agents in making arrests, in violation of a federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which is designed to prevent the military from being used as a domestic police force.
    Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 13 June 2025
Verb
  • He was apprehended by the District of Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force.
    Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 19 June 2025
  • The mother attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended because of her outstanding warrants, according to ABC7 Chicago.
    Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 June 2025
Verb
  • However, Trump caught the attention of the Republican Party through his comments regarding Mexican immigration.
    Ally Goelz, The Washington Examiner, 16 June 2025
  • If such cancers had been regularly caught this early before, their natural histories might be charted.
    Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 16 June 2025
Verb
  • And like the most recent case out of Iowa, stealing someone else’s flag to burn could also be criminal, the organization said.
    Saleen Martin, USA Today, 21 June 2025
  • Also starring Clooney in a leading role, The Monuments Men tells the true story of a group of museum curators, art historians and architects tasked with an unlikely mission: tracking down and recovering priceless works of art stolen by the Nazis before they’re destroyed forever.
    Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Seize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seize. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.

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