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:
It said forces had worked to remove the settlers from the house, separate the groups and confiscate vehicles "that were suspected of having been used to reach the area".
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
In February, Curtis was the first person to publicly announce Bianco planned to confiscate the ballots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
In a podcast, Mansour spoke about how in the 1970s and 1980s soldiers would confiscate posters and postcards, arresting the sellers.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
In their book “Why Nations Fail,” Nobel Prize winners Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson wrote that “extractive” institutions concentrate power in the hands of an elite who then confiscate wealth from the rest of society.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
“Can he confiscate an endangered species if somebody has one?”
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
It confiscates cellphones by the thousand and drones by the dozen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
For every dollar of effort you put in, the system confiscates 70 to 100 cents,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 24, 2025
And he voted for a bill to strengthen a unique California program that confiscates guns from convicted felons who aren’t supposed to have them.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 4, 2022
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
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
His Apple Watch was still linked to his iPhone, which hours earlier had been confiscated by the officers now sleeping next door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Klein similarly reported that her credential had been deactivated, while Politico said Haslett’s badge was confiscated.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Before the face-off, security confiscated an egg Garcia had tucked into his pocket, potentially preventing a repeat of last year's incident when Chris Eubank Jr slapped Benn across the face with one.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
In one example, a truck driver from South Africa was told to fly to Moscow for a driving job and had "everything" confiscated from him upon arrival, Amnesty's report said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
They even confiscated letters that William had written, some dating back to the Riverbank years.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
The government, which launched a crackdown on waste crime last week, said it would do more to force criminals to pay for clean-up operations by confiscating their money and assets.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
But the answer isn’t confiscating the screen that replaced the world I grew up in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
Across the country, government agents have been losing government documents, personal effects, medical devices, and other belongings after confiscating them, effectively turning released immigrants into legal non-persons.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2026
Berlin city's government says confiscating the properties on these grounds would be the job of the Lichtenberg city district that takes in Karlshorst.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
She’d taken the plans from Sela as if she were confiscating acorns from a baby mouse.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
