SEIZURE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does seizure mean? 

• SEIZURE (noun)
  The noun SEIZURE has 4 senses:

1. a sudden occurrence (or recurrence) of a disease

2. the act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property

3. the act of taking of a person by force

4. the taking possession of something by legal process

  Familiarity information: SEIZURE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEIZURE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sudden occurrence (or recurrence) of a disease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

ictus; raptus; seizure

Context example:

he suffered an epileptic seizure

Hypernyms ("seizure" is a kind of...):

attack (a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "seizure"):

convulsion (violent uncontrollable contractions of muscles)

focal seizure (transitory disturbance in motor or sensory function resulting from abnormal cortical activity)

raptus hemorrhagicus (seizure caused by a sudden profuse hemorrhage)

absence; absence seizure (the occurrence of an abrupt, transient loss or impairment of consciousness (which is not subsequently remembered), sometimes with light twitching, fluttering eyelids, etc.; common in petit mal epilepsy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

capture; gaining control; seizure

Hypernyms ("seizure" is a kind of...):

acquiring; getting (the act of acquiring something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "seizure"):

usurpation (wrongfully seizing and holding (an office or powers) by force (especially the seizure of a throne or supreme authority))

apprehension; arrest; catch; collar; pinch; taking into custody (the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal))

conquering; conquest; subjection; subjugation (the act of conquering)

enslavement (the act of making slaves of your captives)

Derivation:

seize (take possession of by force, as after an invasion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of taking of a person by force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

capture; seizure

Hypernyms ("seizure" is a kind of...):

felony (a serious crime (such as murder or arson))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "seizure"):

abduction (the criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a family member; if a man's wife is abducted it is a crime against the family relationship and against the wife)

kidnapping; snatch ((law) the unlawful act of capturing and carrying away a person against their will and holding them in false imprisonment)

Derivation:

seize (take or capture by force)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The taking possession of something by legal process

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("seizure" is a kind of...):

appropriation (a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "seizure"):

arrogation; confiscation (seizure by the government)

distraint; distress (the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim)

impounding; impoundment; internment; poundage (placing private property in the custody of an officer of the law)

impress; impressment (the act of coercing someone into government service)

recapture (a legal seizure by the government of profits beyond a fixed amount)

Derivation:

seize (take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority)

 Context examples 

It is manifested with seizures and headaches.

(Neurocysticercosis, NCI Thesaurus)

In people with temporal lobe epilepsy, spontaneous bursts of abnormal brain activity can sometimes occur even between seizures.

(Seizures disrupt memory network, NIH)

It may be the initial manifestation of seizures associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.

(Pharyngeal Dysesthesia, NCI Thesaurus)

Symptoms of Powassan virus disease can include fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, speech difficulties, and seizures.

(Tick salivary glands can be a tool to study virus transmission and infection, National Institutes of Health)

Benzodiazepines are also used to relax muscles and prevent seizures.

(Benzodiazepine, NCI Dictionary)

Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are clusters of dilated, thin-walled blood vessels that can lead to seizures or stroke when blood leaks into the surrounding brain tissue.

(Researchers connect brain blood vessel lesions to intestinal bacteria, NIH)

A question about whether an individual is or was afraid of having a seizure.

(Afraid of Having a Seizure, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by behavioral changes, sleep disturbances, mental developmental delays and seizures.

(Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIA, NCI Thesaurus)

My mother's illness, he continued, the seizure which ended in her death, was sudden.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Sometimes they can cause seizures or headaches.

(Arteriovenous Malformations, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)