possess
Americanverb (used with object)
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possesses,
present (3rd person singular)
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possessed,
past participle, past
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possessing
present participle
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to have as belonging to one; have as property; own.
to possess a house and a car.
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to have as a faculty, quality, or the like.
to possess courage.
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(of a spirit, especially an evil one) to occupy, dominate, or control (a person) from within.
He thought he was possessed by devils.
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(of a feeling, idea, etc.) to dominate or actuate in the manner of such a spirit.
He was possessed by envy.
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(of a man) to succeed in having sexual intercourse with.
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to have knowledge of.
to possess a language.
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to keep or maintain (oneself, one's mind, etc.) in a certain state, as of peace, patience, etc.
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to maintain control over (oneself, one's mind, etc.).
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to impart to; inform; familiarize (often followed by of orwith ).
to possess someone of the facts of the case.
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to cause to be dominated or influenced, as by an idea, feeling, etc.
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to make (someone) owner, holder, or master, as of property, information, etc..
He possessed them of the facts.
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to seize or take.
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to gain or win.
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to occupy or hold.
verb
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to have as one's property; own
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to have as a quality, faculty, characteristic, etc
to possess good eyesight
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to have knowledge or mastery of
to possess a little French
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to gain control over or dominate
whatever possessed you to act so foolishly?
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(foll by of) to cause to be the owner or possessor
I am possessed of the necessary information
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(often foll by with) to cause to be influenced or dominated (by)
the news possessed him with anger
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to have sexual intercourse with
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rare to keep control over or maintain (oneself or one's feelings) in a certain state or condition
possess yourself in patience until I tell you the news
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archaic to gain or seize
Synonym Usage
See have.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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possesssimple
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possessessimple
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have possessedperfect
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has possessedperfect
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am possessingprogressive
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are possessingprogressive
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is possessingprogressive
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have been possessingperfect progressive
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has been possessingperfect progressive
Past
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possessedsimple
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had possessedperfect
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was possessingprogressive
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were possessingprogressive
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had been possessingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of possess
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English possesen, from Middle French possess(i)er, noun derived from possession possession
Explanation
To possess something is to have or own it. You can possess a physical object, you can possess a particular quality or skill, or you can possess control or influence over someone. Related words are possessive (describing those who hold onto people or things in a controlling way), and possessed, as in a person being possessed by an idea or even by a demon. This verb is from Middle French posséder "to own," from Latin possidēre, from potis "able, having the power" plus sedēre "to sit."
Vocabulary lists containing possess
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 6
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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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.
See Examples For:
The researchers also noted that jellyfish, which diverged from humans about 600 to 700 million years ago, possess two nervous systems positioned at different ends of their bodies.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Aerial reporters possess a peculiar intimacy with listeners, their voices and visuals filling cars and houses with their personalities as well as useful, even startling, real-time information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
A slower succession of frontier systems might even give companies more time to deploy the capabilities they already possess.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2022 and vowed never to relinquish its weapons, of which it is estimated to possess dozens.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Unfortunately, the text also specifically says not to use this trick on a demon, for the demon will surely overpower and possess or even kill you.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
A mathematical model possesses neither intent, malice nor the will to defy its creators, let alone extinguish our species.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
There’s Olive, 12, from Charlotte, North Carolina, whose goal is to sell 8,000 boxes and who already possesses the polished ease of someone who understands how to speak to an audience.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
After reluctantly selling talisman Guimaraes to Arsenal, Gonzalez possesses the qualities Newcastle have been looking for in the middle of the park.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
They can reveal which genes an animal possesses without showing exactly where those genes are positioned along its chromosomes.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
We here at the Mumbai Young Filmmakers Council are all in agreement that Miss Mehra possesses the unique ability to truly transform her characters on-screen in such a way as to spellbind her audience.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
The elderly Douglass insisted that the country needed not new founding principles but the diligent application of those principles it already possessed without distinctions of race, sex, color or religion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
That distinction has influenced ideas about whether the human-chimpanzee ancestor should have possessed feet more like those of modern apes or monkeys.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Brown, 35, had denied murder with a special defence that he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time and believed he had been possessed by the spirit of 19th Century occultist Aleister Crowley.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
But it will probably take years for Bronin to acquire the credibility on Social Security that Larson possessed, even assuming that he wishes to do so.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
“I don’t know what possessed him,” said Aunt Goldie.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
But looking like a world-level star and possessing world-level ability are not the same thing.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
If a relatively simple machine can produce behavior that looks intentional without possessing a decision-making system, could human behavior also appear to result from centralized decisions even if no such central process exists?
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
York, 45, pleaded no contest to charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools, Columbiana County Municipal Court records show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
He also lambasted people’s preoccupation with possessing money as warping their imaginations and blinding them to the existence of more fulfilling possibilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In chapter 4 we reminded ourselves of the many ways in which big domestic mammals were crucial to those human societies possessing them.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
