commandeer
Americanverb (used with object)
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to order or force into active military service.
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to seize (private property) for military or other public use.
The police officer commandeered a taxi and took off after the getaway car.
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to seize arbitrarily.
verb
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to seize for public or military use
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to seize arbitrarily
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have commandeeredperfect
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has commandeeredperfect 3rd person singular
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am commandeeringprogressive 1st person singular
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has been commandeeringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is commandeeringprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been commandeeringperfect progressive
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commandeerssingular 3rd person
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are commandeeringprogressive
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commandeeringparticiple
Past
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had commandeeredperfect
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commandeeredparticiple
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had been commandeeringperfect progressive
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commandeeredsimple
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was commandeeringprogressive singular
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were commandeeringprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of commandeer
1880–85; < Afrikaans kommandeer < French commander to command
Explanation
What is that person doing, interrupting everyone and changing the subject every minute? He is trying to commandeer, or take control, of the conversation. You can probably tell from the look of the word that commandeer is somehow related to commander in meaning. A commander is someone who is officially in charge, giving orders and making decisions for a group such as a nation or a military. Many groups don't have a commander, but this doesn't stop some people from trying to take charge. If you commandeer something — whether it's a car or a conversation — you use force to try to take over.
Vocabulary lists containing commandeer
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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This Week in Words: December 2 - 8, 2017
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Unbroken
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Commandeer your neighborhood’s additional fridge space for all that extra cranberry sauce:
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2018
Commandeer a large table and order recklessly from both restaurants; it will be both too much and just enough.
From Washington Post • Jul. 19, 2018
His goal: Commandeer the island’s hip-hop scene “to help Cuban youth break the information blockade” and build “youth networks for social change,” documents show.
From Washington Times • Dec. 11, 2014
Commandeer two bicycles and go to Gouzeaucourt where we get car and report to H.Q. 12th Brigade near Le Catelet.
From The War in the Air; Vol. 1 The Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force by Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
