seizure - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From seize + -ure.

seizure (countable and uncountable, plural seizures)

  1. senses related to possession
    1. The act of taking possession, as by force or right of law.
      Antonyms: abandonment, release
      Synonym: taking
      the seizure of a thief, a property, a throne, etc.
      The search warrant permitted the seizure of evidence.
      • 1874, Marcus Clarke, chapter VII, in For the Term of His Natural Life:
        As yet there had been no alarm of fever. The three seizures had excited some comment, however, and had it not been for the counter-excitement of the burning ship, it is possible that Pine's precaution would have been thrown away
    2. The state of being seized or of having been taken.
      Antonym: abandonment
      The continued seizure of the car is a violation of my rights.
    3. That which is seized, or taken possession of; a thing laid hold of, or possessed.
      The seizure includes various belongings taken from his house and his office.
    4. (obsolete) A retention within one's grasp or power; possession; ownership.
      • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
        Make o'er thy honour by a deed of trust, / And give me seizure of the mighty wealth.
  2. senses related to sensation
    1. A sudden onset of pain or emotion.
      He felt the seizure of pain when the heart attack began.
    2. (medicine, pathology) A sudden attack or convulsion; the physical manifestation of the abnormal electrical discharges in the brain characteristic of epilepsy.
      epileptic seizure
      I haven't had a seizure since I started that medication.
      Seizures can be caused by exposure to certain poisons or toxins.
    3. (medicine, neurology) An abnormal electrical discharge in the brain, as is typical of epilepsy.

act of taking possession, as by force or right of law

sudden attack or convulsion — see also seize

that which is seized, or taken possession of; a thing laid hold of, or possessed

seizure (third-person singular simple present seizures, present participle seizuring, simple past and past participle seizured)

  1. (informal, intransitive) To experience an epileptic seizure.
    • 2019, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 9:
      My doctor prescribed Namility. It made my vision blurry, I told him. He said keep taking it, it'll stop. Next day at work I seizured in the middle of an order.