sequester

American  

[si-kwes-ter] / sɪˈkwɛs tər /

verb (used with object)

• sequesters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sequestered,
  past participle,  past
• sequestering
  present participle

1. to remove or withdraw into solitude or retirement; seclude.

2. to remove or separate; banish; exile.

3. to keep apart from others; segregate or isolate.

   The jury was sequestered until a verdict was reached.

4. Law. to remove (property) temporarily from the possession of the owner; seize and hold, as the property and income of a debtor, until legal claims are satisfied.

5. International Law. to requisition, hold, and control (enemy property).

6. to trap (a chemical in the atmosphere or environment) and isolate it in a natural or artificial storage area.

   There are processes to sequester carbon from a power plant's exhaust gases.

   Plants can sequester toxins and store them in their tissues.

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noun

1. an act or instance of sequestering; separation; isolation.

2. sequestration.

   domestic programs starved for cash by the federal sequester.

sequester British  

/ sɪˈkwɛstə /

verb

1. to remove or separate

2. (usually passive) to retire into seclusion

3. law to take (property) temporarily out of the possession of its owner, esp until the claims of creditors are satisfied or a court order is complied with

4. international law to requisition or appropriate (enemy property)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsequestered
  adjective
• self-sequestered
  adjective
• sequestrable
  adjective
• unsequestered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• sequestering
  present
• sequestered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sequester
  simple
• sequesters
  simple
• have sequestered
  perfect
• has sequestered
  perfect
• am sequestering
  progressive
• are sequestering
  progressive
• is sequestering
  progressive
• have been sequestering
  perfect progressive
• has been sequestering
  perfect progressive

Past

• sequestered
  simple
• had sequestered
  perfect
• was sequestering
  progressive
• were sequestering
  progressive
• had been sequestering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sequester
  simple
• will have sequestered
  perfect
• will be sequestering
  progressive
• will have been sequestering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sequester

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English sequestren, from Latin sequestrāre “to put in hands of a trustee,” derivative of sequester “trustee, depositary”

Explanation

The word sequester describes being kept away from others. If your sister tells you to stay out of the way so she can cook dinner for her new boyfriend, you might sequester yourself in your room. Legal types may be familiar with the word sequester since it’s often used in relation to a jury for an important trial. In that case, members of the jury are sequestered, meaning they aren't allowed to watch the news or read articles that could influence their judgment. However, sequester can describe anyone who is isolated or hidden away from others, like a pop star sequestered in a hotel room, protected from fans' mania below.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sequester sequesters sequestered sequestering

"Forests globally currently sequester about one-third of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions," said Medlyn.

From Barron's ● Jan. 6, 2026

As biomass like trees and crops grow, they sequester carbon in their leaves and branches.

From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2025

Working with Valerie Kickhoefer in Rome’s lab, the group then found that the drug-resistant cancer cells generated many more vaults than nonresistant ones, suggesting the structures might sequester or expel chemotherapies.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 6, 2024

But, until now, exactly how changes in seafloor topography over Earth's history affect the ocean's ability to sequester carbon was not well understood.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2024

The performers immediately sequester themselves in their train cars.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Each company that chooses to stay private sequesters wealth creation in the hands of a select few, rather than giving Main Street investors a chance to take a stake in the success of American enterprise.

From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025

Urchins devour kelp, which sequesters carbon and serves as shelter and food for a vast array of marine life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025

In a 2021 piece for Curbed about stewarding urban nature, Stephanie Foo drew motivation from a London plane that annually sequesters an estimated 10,500 tons of carbon dioxide.

From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2024

“Africa is one of the regions in the world that sequesters the most carbon and emits oxygen,” he said.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

One day Etienne sits with Marie-Laure and reads to her in his feathery voice; the next he suffers from what he calls a headache and sequesters himself inside his study behind a locked door.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

It revealed that the lead detective who investigated the murders - a key trial witness - and two prosecution solicitors had been staying at the same hotel as the sequestered jury.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Yet at that moment—in sequestered design studios scattered around California—engineering boffins were up to their elbows in the next generation of EV pickups, and still are.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

Now, of course, that’s a ridiculous premise because it suggests that people only come to the president, he never goes anywhere else, that he should be sequestered in this fortress.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

AFP reporters saw bomb squads patrolling Naypyidaw hotels ahead of the ceremony, and parliament was sequestered by rings of checkpoints.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

Once he’s sequestered away, he closes his eyes and sends a silent apology in G’ma’s direction, then holds his breath as he lifts the lid.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

And then the judge orders the “triumvirate” to come in and testify, sequestering each of them so they can’t hear each other talk.

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026

It also has one of the strongest offerings when it comes to capturing and sequestering carbon.

From Barron's ● Dec. 9, 2025

“We want to give these students just an idea that they live in a special area, and the role these trees play in sequestering carbon from our atmosphere.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025

The peat here runs to a depth of at least nine metres, which means it has been forming for more than 9,000 years and sequestering carbon for all that time.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2025

To Bush, the sequestering of knowledge and policy authority had one special virtue: it clipped Lawrence’s wings.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• cloister
• close off
• insulate
• segregate