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
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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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.
He regularly turned up at the U.K.’s New York consulate, would commandeer the consulate’s car and visit friends, including Epstein, the book says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026
The students had gone to Iguala to commandeer buses to take them to an annual protest in Mexico City.
From BBC • May 15, 2025
In more than 5 million rides taken in Waymos, only a “handful” of people have attempted to commandeer the vehicles, according to the company.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2025
You took a computer at a place where you commandeer visually several screens at once, and you had also the ability to turn the TV you were watching pretty readily.
From Slate • Sep. 18, 2024
But that is mere child’s play compared to the way personal communications devices can commandeer those systems.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
