Possess

/pəˈzɛs/ · verb

Meaning

To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own..

Definitions by Sense

1. To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own.
2. Of an idea, thought, etc.: to dominate (someone's mind); to strongly influence.
3. Of a supernatural entity, especially one regarded as evil: to take control of (an animal or person's body or mind).
4. Of a person: to control or dominate (oneself or someone, or one's own or someone's heart, mind, etc.).
5. To cause an idea, thought, etc., to strongly affect or influence (someone); to inspire, to preoccupy.
6. To occupy the attention or time of (someone).
7. To obtain or seize (something); to gain, to win.
8. Chiefly followed by of or with: to vest ownership of something in (oneself or someone); to bestow upon, to endow.

Example Sentences

He does not even possess a working telephone.

For men being generally poſſeſſed before the time of our Saviour, […] of an opinion, that the Souls of men were ſubſtances diſtinct from their Bodies, and therefore that when the Body was dead, the Soule of every man, whether godly, or wicked, muſt ſubſiſt ſomewhere by vertue of its own nature, without acknowledging therein any ſupernaturall gift of Gods; the Doctors of the Church doubted a long time, what was the place, which they were to abide in, till they ſhould be re-united to their Bodies in the Reſurrection; […]

Even where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior excellence, the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds, which hardly any later friend can obtain.

[T]he ship turned and made slowly for her wharf under the wall, bringing even more fairly to view the life with which the river at that point was possessed.

He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.

Here the line is joined by the Colne Valley branch, and both tracks are carried into Haverhill station upon a high embankment from which the town can be seen on the south side. The twin tracks, after traversing a scissors crossover, become the down and up roads through the station, which possesses an extensive goods yard.

I am poſſeſt with an adulterate blot, / My bloud is mingled with the crime of luſt: […]

This [suspicion of plague] poſſeſs'd the Heads of the People very much, and few car'd to go thro' Drury-Lane, or the other Streets ſuſpected, unleſs they had extraordinary Buſineſs, that obliged them to it.

Synonyms for possess

Antonyms for possess

Related Words

Word Forms

• possesses
• possessing
• possessed
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• possess
• possessest
• possessedst
• possesseth
• -
• possest
• possesst

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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