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 Better, Cretton seizes small moments to put his stamp on this installment. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026 Rhaenyra, queen of the Blacks, seizes the Iron Throne in King’s Landing with the support of Alicent, who has simply had enough of her unstable and terrible sons. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 13 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 Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid Joan Goodwin, a physics professor with a lifelong love of the stars, seizes the chance to join NASA’s first class of women astronauts and soon finds friendship, passion, and purpose among her fellow trainees. — Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 9 May 2026 Rather than intercepting income at the source, a bank levy freezes and seizes funds that are already sitting in your checking or savings account. — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026 Earnest and intersectional, the spoken word artist’s debut solo album seizes upon the power of club music to preach about gender equality, personal transformation, and communal uplift. — Jesse Dorris, Pitchfork, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seizes
  1. knows
  2. arrests
  3. grabs
  4. confiscates
  5. understands
  6. apprehends
  7. catches
  8. usurps
Verb
  • His friend, Thomas Shapiro, also knows exactly what Klee is going through.
    — Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
  • At Café Corazón, being a community space extends to what happens when an employee is harassed and whether the staff knows what to do if immigration officers come through the door.
    — Stephanie Gravalese, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 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
  • Frustrated, Lucky grabs his gun and tries to threaten Cary into giving her the seed phrase.
    — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Kurt’s key takeaways What grabs me here is how much walking support the researchers created without loading someone down with bulky motors.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of grabs
Verb
  • 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
  • The children designated as Palestinians, meanwhile, have their drawings torn up and are relegated to small corners of the classroom while the teacher confiscates their candy.
    — Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 26 Nov. 2025
Definition of confiscates
Verb
  • Nolan understands how to make popular entertainment that can appeal to and convey its ideas to millions and millions of people.
    — Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Rather than treating those tensions as problems to be solved, Scoot understands that the future of luxury depends on balancing them, rather than choosing between them.
    — Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 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
  • In his first season with the Chiefs, Thornton in 2025 set career highs in touchdowns (three), catches that resulted in a first down (15) and receiving yards (438) in 2025.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2026
  • The mentor or peer advisor catches the blind spot no spreadsheet can see.
    — Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 29 July 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 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on seizes

Nglish: Translation of seizes for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of élan

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
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
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All