seize on

Idioms

Also, seize upon.
Grab or take hold of suddenly, as in He seized on the bell rope and started to pull vigorously , or She seized upon every opportunity to present her side of the story . [Late 1600s]
Resort to some action, especially out of dire necessity, as in He seized upon any excuse, no matter how farfetched .

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.

Garden Investments sees a chance for Fortune Brands to be able to seize on a similar opportunity, the people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Yeah, they were very close for a while, but Epstein’s defining human trait was an ability to seize on his connections and leverage them for as much currency as he could.

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2026

Even before adding Echo Lake to its portfolio of 25 other acquisitions, Cal-Maine was starting to seize on the public’s increasing appetite for “specialty eggs.”

From Barron's • Dec. 11, 2025

With responsibility comes scrutiny, and you can bet the other parties will be watching like hawks and seize on any mishaps.

From BBC • May 3, 2025

I waited for Leah and the other pupils to seize on this very obvious point of argument and jump in with their overflowing brace of words.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023