seize

Verb

• capture the attention or imagination of
  • This story will grab you
    
  • The movie seized my imagination
    

• affect
  • Fear seized the prisoners
    
  • The patient was seized with unbearable pains
    
  • He was seized with a dreadful disease
    

• hook by a pull on the line
  • strike a fish
    

• 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
    

• take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority
  • The FBI seized the drugs
    
  • The customs agents impounded the illegal shipment
    
  • The police confiscated the stolen artwork
    

• 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
    

• take or capture by force
  • The terrorists seized the politicians
    
  • The rebels threaten to seize civilian hostages
    

• take hold of; grab
  • The sales clerk quickly seized the money on the counter
    
  • She clutched her purse
    
  • The mother seized her child by the arm
    
  • Birds of prey often seize small mammals
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  grab , clutch , get hold of , assume , usurp , take over , arrogate , impound , attach , sequester , confiscate , appropriate , capture , conquer , prehend