possess

Definitions

1. 1.Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power, After offense returning, to regain Love once possessed. Milton.
2. 2.To have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have; as, to possess property, an estate, a book. I am yours, and all that I possess. Shak.
3. 3.To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize. How . . . to possess the purpose they desired. Spenser.
4. 4.To enter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; -- said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc. "Weakness possesseth me." Shak. Those which were possessed with devils. Matt. iv.
5. 5.For ten inspired, ten thousand are possessed. Roscommon.
6. 6.To put in possession; to make the owner or holder of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; -- followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively. I have possessed your grace of what I purpose. Shak. Record a gift . . . of all he dies possessed Unto his son. Shak. We possessed our selves of the kingdom of Naples. Addison. To possess our minds with an habitual good intention. Addison. -- Possess, Have. Have is the more general word. To possess denotes to have as a property. It usually implies more permanence or definiteness of control or ownership than is involved in having. A man does not possess his wife and children: they are (so to speak) part of himself. For the same reason, we have the faculties of reason, understanding, will, sound judgment, etc.: they are exercises of the mind, not possessions.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "possess" mean?
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Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is possess.

• What is yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power, After offense returning, to regain Love once possessed. Milton called?
• What is to have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have; as, to possess property, an estate, a book. I am yours, and all that I possess. Shak called?
• What is to obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize. How . . . to possess the purpose they desired. Spenser called?
• What is for ten inspired, ten thousand are possessed. Roscommon called?