confiscateverb [ T ]
uk/ˈkɒn.fɪ.skeɪt/us/ˈkɑːn.fə.skeɪt/to take a possession away from someone when you have the right to do so, usually as a punishment and often for a limited period, after which it is returned to the owner:
Miss Edwards confiscated my phone!
His passport was confiscated by the police to prevent him from leaving the country.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Taking things away from someone or somewhere
- appropriate
- cream sth/sb off
- de-
- debug
- denude
- depersonalize
- drain
- infringe on/upon sth
- knock
- knock sth out of sb
- nab
- off with sth idiom
- relieve
- shelf
- suck
- suck sb/sth dry idiom
- sweep
- take sth out
- tow
- tow-away
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confiscation
noun [ C or U ] uk/ˌkɒn.fɪˈskeɪ.ʃən/us/ˌkɑːn.fəˈskeɪ.ʃən/
There was a record number of confiscations by customs officers last year.