confiscate

American  

[kon-fuh-skeyt, kuhn-fis-kit] / ˈkɒn fəˌskeɪt, kənˈfɪs kɪt /

verb (used with object)

confiscated, confiscating

1. to seize as forfeited to the public domain; appropriate, by way of penalty, for public use.

2. to seize by or as if by authority; appropriate summarily.

   The border guards confiscated our movie cameras.

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adjective

1. seized or appropriated, as for public use.

confiscate British  

/ ˈkɒnfɪˌskeɪt /

verb

1. to seize (property), esp for public use and esp by way of a penalty

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adjective

1. seized or confiscated; forfeit

2. having lost or been deprived of property through confiscation

Other Word Forms

• confiscatable adjective
• confiscation noun
• confiscator noun
• reconfiscate verb (used with object)
• unconfiscated adjective

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” ( fiscal ) + -āre, verb infinitive suffix

Example Sentences

Rangers guard a mountain of confiscated snares in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda.

From BBC

The rescue, owned by Christine De Anda, also said officials on the scene confiscated a phone, preventing full documentation of the seizure, and that authorities used catch poles to drag the dogs.

From Los Angeles Times

A suspected terrorist who hid from the FBI in a remote north Wales cottage has had more than £20,000 in frozen assets confiscated by police.

From BBC

Lore Segal was 10 years old in 1938 when Nazi Germany annexed Austria and began the process of annulling the citizenships and confiscating the properties of Jewish families such as her own.

From The Wall Street Journal

Despite his extradition, Chen "will be prosecuted in the near future" in Cambodia, and his assets "will be confiscated", the senior official added.

From Barron's

Related Words

• appropriate
• expropriate
• impound