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 ( def 7 ):

   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)

Derived Forms

• seˈquestrable, adjective

Other Words From

• se·questra·ble adjective
• nonse·questered adjective
• self-se·questered adjective
• unse·questered 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

Used, hubcap-free tires are well known to sequester standing water—a perfect breeding ground for the next generation of mosquitos.

From The Daily Beast

The statement was solely focused on spending levels under the omnibus and their increase over the sequester.

From The Daily Beast

The Budget Control Act of 2011 and the sequester have cut discretionary spending across the board.

From The Daily Beast

And the overall funding levels, while better than the sequester, are still awfully low.

From The Daily Beast

It provides $63 billion in sequester relief, which is partially offset by a $23 billion mix of spending cuts and “fees.”

From The Daily Beast

Some hoped to overthrow all law and order, that they might revel in the wealth they could then sequester.

From Project Gutenberg

If any proven guilt results you shall sequester the property of offenders, in order to assure the judgment.

From Project Gutenberg

I have been sent to sequester myself in my see; I have been set to gnaw my fingers as they had been old bones thrown to a dog.

From Project Gutenberg

As surely as the wolf retires before cities, does the fairy sequester herself from the haunts of the licensed victualer.

From Project Gutenberg

All that was necessary was to sequester the vessels and goods of merchants belonging to the nation at which it wished to strike.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cloister
• close off
• insulate
• segregate