sequester

[si-kwes-ter]

verb (used with object)

1. to remove or withdraw into solitude or retirement; seclude.

2. to remove or separate; banish; exile.

3. to keep apart from others; segregate or isolate.

   The jury was sequestered until a verdict was reached.

4. Law.,  to remove (property) temporarily from the possession of the owner; seize and hold, as the property and income of a debtor, until legal claims are satisfied.

5. International Law.,  to requisition, hold, and control (enemy property).

6. to trap (a chemical in the atmosphere or environment) and isolate it in a natural or artificial storage area.

   There are processes to sequester carbon from a power plant's exhaust gases.

   Plants can sequester toxins and store them in their tissues.

noun

1. an act or instance of sequestering; separation; isolation.

2. sequestration.

   domestic programs starved for cash by the federal sequester.

sequester

/ sɪˈkwɛstə /

verb

1. to remove or separate

2. (usually passive) to retire into seclusion

3. law to take (property) temporarily out of the possession of its owner, esp until the claims of creditors are satisfied or a court order is complied with

4. international law to requisition or appropriate (enemy property)

Other Word Forms

• sequestrable adjective
• nonsequestered adjective
• self-sequestered adjective
• unsequestered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sequester¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English sequestren, from Latin sequestrāre “to put in hands of a trustee,” derivative of sequester “trustee, depositary”

Word History and Origins

Origin of sequester¹

C14: from Late Latin sequestrāre to surrender for safekeeping, from Latin sequester a trustee

Example Sentences

Holmes’ words were a quintessential expression of “eugenics,” a pseudoscientific notion that social problems can be alleviated by focusing on heredity, and sequestering, forcibly sterilizing or even murdering those whose genetic heritage jeopardizes civilization.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s evidence that buckwheat and bush sunflower can take up lead, and saltbush can ensnare arsenic, Fang said, also name-checking corn, squash and cucumber for their ability to sequester contaminants such as dioxins.

From Los Angeles Times

They are just a sequestered space for girls to act out a little under tight supervision before they are transferred to the control of their husband.

From Salon

The jury for her joint trial with Sollecito was never sequestered, guaranteeing the barrage of outrageous fallacies surrounding the proceedings tainted their judgment.

From Salon

Throughout the week the jury was considering their verdict, sequestered in a hotel to protect them from the maelstrom, the question everyone had was: what were they thinking?

From BBC

Related Words

• cloister 
• close off www.thesaurus.com
• insulate 
• segregate