possess
IPA: pʌzˈɛs
verb
- (transitive)
- To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own.
- Of an idea, thought, etc.: to dominate (someone's mind); to strongly influence.
- Of a supernatural entity, especially one regarded as evil: to take control of (an animal or person's body or mind).
- (also reflexive, chiefly literary and poetic) Of a person: to control or dominate (oneself or someone, or one's own or someone's heart, mind, etc.).
- To dominate (a person) sexually; to have sexual intercourse with (a person).
- (archaic)
- To cause an idea, thought, etc., to strongly affect or influence (someone); to inspire, to preoccupy.
- To occupy the attention or time of (someone).
- (also literary) To obtain or seize (something); to gain, to win.
- (also reflexive) Chiefly followed by of or with: to vest ownership of something in (oneself or someone); to bestow upon, to endow.
- (law) To have control or possession of, but not to own (a chattel or an interest in land).
- (obsolete)
- To give (someone) information or knowledge; to acquaint, to inform.
- To have the ability to use, or knowledge of (a language, a skill, etc.)
- To inhabit or occupy (a place).
- Chiefly followed by that: to convince or persuade (someone).
- (intransitive)
- To dominate sexually; to have sexual intercourse with.
- To inhabit or occupy a place.
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Examples of "possess" in Sentences
- They enshrined the possessions.
- The people divested the possessions.
- Cecily is the first to possess the book.
- Could Earth have once possessed a high obliquity
- Alienable and inalienable possession is distinguished.
- At the time, the sandal was a possession of the crown.
- The fifth and last quality one must possess is optimism.
- The third quality one must possess is self-determination.
- I always thought that the possessive had to have the apostrophe.
- In the meantime, the bailiff takes 'walking possession' of the goods.
- In times of war, the victor takes over the possession of the vanquished.
- The Beast possesses stupendous fortitude, able to take large amounts of damage.
- The expertise they possess is a matter of knowledge, which is distinct from rationality.
- The second quality one must possess is the willingness to invest time and effort even if direct results do not seem at all apparent.
- The most important thing which an enterprise should possess is the ability to believe in oneself and should go after that religiously.
- The unusual quality they possess is that they are fluoresce in UV light or a common black light and will literally glow in the black light.
- My abode is humble: in the midst of an orchard, which my father planted: but I possess a few books, some of them curious, and should like to _read_ double the number I _possess_. "
- The history of Tamil invasions against the only homeland that the Buddhist Sinhalese possess is not just the stuff of ancient history, but a living reality underpinned by latter-day Tamil terrorism.
- Such identity as they do possess is invariably generated by the role they play in cloaking abstractions; and these, which tend to vary according to whichever fragment of papyrus or pyramid text is being quoted, rarely make for gripping narrative.