repossess
Americanverb (used with object)
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repossesses,
present (3rd person singular)
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repossessed,
past participle, past
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repossessing
present participle
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to regain ownership of; to take back, especially for failure to make due payment.
After the first few payments, the buyer defaulted on the contract, and we were forced to repossess the piano.
-
to give (someone) ownership of something again; restore something to (used withof ).
In 1814, a coalition of European powers defeated Napoleon and repossessed the ousted Bourbons of their throne.
verb
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to take back possession of (property), esp for nonpayment of money due under a hire-purchase agreement
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to restore ownership of (something) to someone
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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repossesssimple
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repossessessimple
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have repossessedperfect
-
has repossessedperfect
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am repossessingprogressive
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are repossessingprogressive
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is repossessingprogressive
-
have been repossessingperfect progressive
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has been repossessingperfect progressive
Past
-
repossessedsimple
-
had repossessedperfect
-
was repossessingprogressive
-
were repossessingprogressive
-
had been repossessingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repossess
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:
When borrowers default or people can no longer justify maintenance fees, timeshare operators can repossess or cheaply buy back their vacation ownership.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
In December 2023, bailiffs alerted police after going to repossess the premises on Nobes Avenue because of unpaid debts.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
Allowing the lender to repossess the vehicle is one option.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 29, 2025
Even so, the mortgage arrears on his two-bedroom flat eventually grew to about £13,000 and his bank said if that figure was not reduced to below £8,000 it would seek to repossess his home.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
He had explained to his supporters in a letter that he was so broke that the bank was trying to repossess his house.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
When the nefarious Pilkington Industries repossesses Manor Farm after a failure to make payments, the animals inhabiting the stead are nearly trucked off to their demise.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
“Don Hankey, he sells loans to people with less than exceptional credit. Forbes said his company repossesses about 250 cars a day. Our former president got a loan from a repo man.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
That is certainly a possibility, but it is a long, legal process before a lender repossesses somebody's home.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2022
He repossesses about 600 cars a year, getting paid an average of about $350 a car, mostly, if not always, by himself.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 6, 2015
No. Bank repossesses your land, that’s what happens.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Jeramy seemed to have a motive: A couple of weeks before the break-in, Roebuck had repossessed a Dodge Dakota pickup truck he’d sold to Jeramy after his nephew fell behind on payments.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
This led to their family home being repossessed when Alex was eight and Melanie selling all her belongings to live with like-minded people in Morocco.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Colony Ridge repossessed more than 15,000 lots, many owned by immigrants, a 2023 investigation by the Houston Landing found.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2026
“Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off,” Ms. McNeill told the House.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
Mobile home buyers were defaulting on their loans, their mobile homes were being repossessed, and the people who had lent them money were receiving fractions of the original loans.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Caviness, 33, said he has been repossessing cars his entire adult life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
Leasing companies warn that restrictions on repossessing their assets in case of defaults will drive up costs for all Indian airlines - even for IndiGo and Air India.
From Reuters ● Jun. 20, 2023
Autonomous vehicles that are not worth repossessing could be made to drive themselves to junkyards.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
Payment difficulties can lead to banks and building societies repossessing houses, although lenders try to avoid this.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2023
Going to the vidphone, Iran said, “Why are you afraid? They're not repossessing the goat, not yet.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
