sequestration

American  

[see-kwes-trey-shuhn, si-kwes-] / ˌsi kwɛsˈtreɪ ʃən, sɪ kwɛs- /

noun

1. removal or separation; banishment or exile.

2. a withdrawal into seclusion; retirement.

3. segregation from others; isolation.

   sequestration of jurors during a trial.

4. Law.

   1. the sequestering of property.

   2. confiscation or seizure.

5. Chemistry. the combining of metallic ions with a suitable reagent into a stable, soluble complex in order to prevent the ions from combining with a substance with which they would otherwise have formed an insoluble precipitate, from causing interference in a particular reaction, or from acting as undesirable catalysts.

6. the trapping of a chemical in the atmosphere or environment and its isolation in a natural or artificial storage area.

   Carbon sequestration can reduce global warming.

7. 1. the process of implementing an automatic cut in government spending across most departments, agencies, etc..

      efforts to avoid or delay sequestration.

   2. an instance of this.

      An $80 billion sequestration would lead to massive layoffs.

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sequestration British  

/ ˌsiːkwɛˈstreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of sequestering or state of being sequestered

2. law the sequestering of property

3. chem the effective removal of ions from a solution by coordination with another type of ion or molecule to form complexes that do not have the same chemical behaviour as the original ions See also sequestrant

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Other Word Forms

• nonsequestration noun

Etymology

Origin of sequestration

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin sequestrātiōn- (stem of sequestrātiō ), equivalent to sequestrāt ( us ) (past participle of sequestrāre to sequester ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

The farm also collects quantifiable data for soil carbon sequestration.

From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025

The news came as Kenny Craig, an accountant with insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor, was named as trustee in sequestration of the former first minister's estate.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

San Francisco-based Charm Industrial, whose technology doesn’t involve energy generation, began its sequestration efforts in the Midwest and plans to expand into Louisiana.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

The study's findings are helping piece together the puzzle of wetland carbon sequestration on a global scale.

From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024

Any inconvenience due to our sequestration will be outweighed by the Protection afforded both against the PoIitself and against other Tumults of this Colony, of which we all must be sensible.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson