confiscable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of confiscable
First recorded in 1720–30; confisc(ate) + -able
Explanation
If something is confiscable, it is legally subject to being taken away by an authority figure. Whether it's a prohibited item at an airport security checkpoint or an electronic device prohibited in the classroom, a confiscable object is one you are at risk of losing. The word confiscable comes from the Latin confiscare, meaning "to consign to the public treasury," and it's related to the English word confiscate, "to take possession of by legal authority." Confiscable items may be taken temporarily or permanently, depending on the situation, and they are taken when a rule or law has been broken. The word is usually associated with weighty legal matters, as in a getaway car being confiscable after a bank robbery. However, it applies just as well to cell phones being taken away in meetings where secret or classified information is discussed.
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 knew of about a thousand bales of cotton, some of it private property, some of it confiscable, stored at various points on the banks of the Alabama.
From The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1 by Ambrose Bierce
Some goods were found in it which were not entered, whereupon the fiscaal went to law with the curators, and claimed that the goods were confiscable to the Company.
From Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 by J. Franklin (John Franklin) Jameson
The property of the rebels is confiscable by the ever observed rule of war, as consecrated by international laws.
From Diary from March 4, 1861, to November 12, 1862 by Adam G. de Gurowski, Count
This left only the "confiscable" property to be collected and sold.
From The Sequel of Appomattox : a chronicle of the reunion of the states by Walter Lynwood Fleming
The cargo, it was contended, was unprotected since it was enemy's property, and the vessel, by trading with the enemy, had violated a regulation which rendered it confiscable.
From Neutral Rights and Obligations in the Anglo-Boer War by Robert Granville Campbell
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.
