seize upon en · VERB
Meanings
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To grasp or take hold of (an object) suddenly, forcibly, or tightly.
The child seized upon the cat's tail as soon as it was within reach.
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To take up, embrace, enact, or turn eagerly to (a plan, idea, ideology, cause, practice, method, etc.); to grasp, understand, and accept quickly; to adopt wholeheartedly or vigorously.
I heard her ideas and seized upon them immediately.
The committee seized upon the new plan at once.
Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
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To take possession of or claim (an idea, person, event, etc.) as one's own; to assimilate, absorb, annex, co-opt.
After the controversy of her public statement, she has been the darling of right-wing groups who have seized upon her as the poster child of their cause.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| seizes upon | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| seize on | alternative | lexicographic | |
| seized upon | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| seized upon | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| seizing upon | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Relateds
Synonyms
latch on (take hold of) · fasten on (take hold of) · hook on (take hold of)