seize on
Idioms-
Also, seize upon.
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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]
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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.
Via the cinematic hyperbole of bloodlust and explosions, “The Dog Stars” makes a salient point that we’ll seize on any excuse to settle into our own camps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
There’s a branding aspect in a lot of festivals for a movie that’s a hot movie that the press has decided to seize on.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
The project hopes to "seize on the passion of all the astronomers over the last 350 years, and interpret that passion through science," Rodgers told the BBC.
From BBC ● May 18, 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
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
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
