confiscate
Americanverb (used with object)
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confiscates,
present (3rd person singular)
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confiscated,
past participle, past
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confiscating
present participle
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to seize as forfeited to the public domain; appropriate, by way of penalty, for public use.
-
to seize by or as if by authority; appropriate summarily.
The border guards confiscated our movie cameras.
adjective
verb
adjective
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seized or confiscated; forfeit
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having lost or been deprived of property through confiscation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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confiscationnoun
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confiscatornoun
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reconfiscateverb (used with object)
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confiscatableadjective
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unconfiscatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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confiscatesimple
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confiscatessimple
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have confiscatedperfect
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has confiscatedperfect
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am confiscatingprogressive
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are confiscatingprogressive
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is confiscatingprogressive
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have been confiscatingperfect progressive
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has been confiscatingperfect progressive
Past
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confiscatedsimple
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had confiscatedperfect
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was confiscatingprogressive
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were confiscatingprogressive
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had been confiscatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of confiscate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin confiscātus “seized,” past participle of confiscāre “to seize for the public treasury,” equivalent to con- con- + fisc(us) “basket, moneybag, public treasury” ( see fiscal) + -āre, verb infinitive suffix
Explanation
To confiscate means to take away temporarily for security or legal reasons. It implies an act by an authority upon one of less power. If you use your cell phone in class, the teacher might confiscate it for the day. Confiscate derives from the Latin confiscat, meaning "to store in a chest, or give to the treasury." In school, if the boys begin throwing pencils at each other, the teacher will confiscate them and "store” them in her desk. She’ll return them, however, when the boys need to take the test. That’s assuming they have not blinded each other beforehand.
Vocabulary lists containing confiscate
Persepolis
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"Fighting Hitler: A Holocaust Story," Vocabulary from the article
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Echo
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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.
See Examples For:
The lawsuit alleges that Sheriff Robert Luna failed to confiscate Giandomenico’s phone after learning of the photos and tried to conceal from Nancy Lemus that the images existed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
The law doesn't allow the Crown to confiscate property or assets directly - it's an order for payment.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The law does not allow the Crown to confiscate property or assets directly - it's an order for payment.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
At this point, the most responsible thing Attorney General Pam Bondi could do is confiscate the department’s television remotes and log everyone out of their social media accounts.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026
They sent staff members into Studio One to confiscate all scripts of the radio play.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
For every dollar of effort you put in, the system confiscates 70 to 100 cents,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 24, 2025
When capos are arrested, the government confiscates whatever land is in their name and holds it in a byzantine bureaucracy.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2021
The FBI comes back and confiscates the original devices, but not before Isaac made a copy of the hard drive.
From Fox News ● Oct. 15, 2020
Anyway, let’s discuss everything else happening in the golf world before someone confiscates my computer.
From Golf Digest ● May 14, 2019
To clothe the migrants, he circumvents Mexican Customs, which inspects cars and confiscates used clothing coming into the country, in what Padre Leo believes is an attempt to protect Mexican clothing manufacturers.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
Conservation scientists may be able to analyze confiscated scales, determine which pangolin species they came from, and then use that information to identify regions where poaching pressure is especially intense.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
In other footage, the Israeli forces appear to have confiscated the canopy under which the settlers were sheltering, while leaving their other equipment.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
When officials recently confiscated 350 turtles there, they brought them to the conservancy to care for them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Long-term bonds became known, jocularly, as “certificates of confiscation”: Owning them entitled you to have some of your money confiscated by the government every year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
“We don’t reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn’t have confiscated it.”
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
But the answer isn’t confiscating the screen that replaced the world I grew up in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Since the National Rifle Association rebuked his statement about confiscating guns following the killing of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis, Trump has been seen very little.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
The school may use the dashboard to identify rule-breakers in the future, but for now, teachers and staff are simply confiscating phones on sight, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
The army posted videos of soldiers confiscating thousands of mobile phones, computers and satellite dishes from Elon Musk's Starlink service.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
It would take her until the next morning to think of a suitable punishment for Izzy: confiscating her beloved Doc Martens and throwing them in the trash.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
