confiscate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
confiscates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
confiscated,
past participle, past
-
confiscating
present participle
-
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
-
seized or confiscated; forfeit
-
having lost or been deprived of property through confiscation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
confiscationnoun
-
confiscatornoun
-
reconfiscateverb (used with object)
-
confiscatableadjective
-
unconfiscatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
confiscatesimple
-
confiscatessimple
-
have confiscatedperfect
-
has confiscatedperfect
-
am confiscatingprogressive
-
are confiscatingprogressive
-
is confiscatingprogressive
-
have been confiscatingperfect progressive
-
has been confiscatingperfect progressive
Past
-
confiscatedsimple
-
had confiscatedperfect
-
was confiscatingprogressive
-
were confiscatingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Fighting Hitler: A Holocaust Story," Vocabulary from the article
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Echo
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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
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
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 monitors also tried to confiscate four power banks and chargers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
“They confiscate our phones while we’re in the building.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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
The only excitement in this over comes when a steward confiscates a giant inflatable watermelon, only for Jofra Archer to nick it off him and return it to the crowd, who chant “Arise Sir Jofra”.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 23, 2019
The captain, however, has been watching, and when the parrot flaps off very self-satisfied, he confiscates my pencil and pad.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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
The order also noted that $160 that had been confiscated in the arrest would be forfeited to MVHTTF, which appears to stand for the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 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
The cops towed my mother’s car into an impound lot, and I was sure they’d found and confiscated the fireworks.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
De Klerk called for an urgent meeting with me and read to me from documents he claimed had been confiscated in the raid.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
But the answer isn’t confiscating the screen that replaced the world I grew up in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 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
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
Following the natural disaster, local law enforcement was assigned the task of confiscating guns, many of which officers say were stolen or found in abandoned homes.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2025
Apparently inspired by the black wave, some enterprising rebel commander came up with the idea of confiscating people’s abandoned automobiles and sending them unmanned down the streets.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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.
