con·fis·cate

(kŏn′fĭ-skāt′)

tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates

1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury, especially as a penalty for wrongdoing.

2. To seize by authority: The teacher confiscated all the comic books we had in class. See Synonyms at appropriate.

adj. (kŏn′fĭ-skāt′, kən-fĭs′kət)

1. Seized by a government; appropriated.

2. Having lost property through confiscation.

[Latin cōnfiscāre, cōnfiscāt : com-, com- + fiscus, treasury.]

con′fis·ca′tion n.

con′fis·ca′tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

References in classic literature

The modern inhabitants are confiscators and falsifiers of high repute, if gossip speaks truly concerning them, and I freely believe it does.

View in context

Agony aunt, arbitrator, bag-mender, bibliophile, biscuit manager, book bargain hunter, budget holder, cash clerk, chewing gum scraper, coat-finder, events organiser, form-filler, general dog's body, IT expert, literacy consultant, nagger, nurse, phone confiscator, police inspector, public-relations officer, scapegoat, social worker, surrogate parent, tea maker, tissue-provider, walking encyclopaedia/mobile Google guru ...

Buzzing, fizzing and crackling: a view from the corner of the library

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