What does seize mean?
Word: Seize
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Seize means to take hold of something quickly and firmly.
Synonyms: grab
Sounds like: sees (notices with the eyes); seas (large areas of salt water)
How do you spell seize?
Syllables: seize
Tricky part: This is one of the few words that breaks the i before e habit, and sieze is the slip nearly everyone makes at least once.
Watch out for: sieze, seeze, ceize
Memory tip: Whoever seizes a place gets there early. In this word the e gets there early too, ahead of the i.
Seize in a sentence
Example 1: Seize every chance you get to read aloud in class.
Example 2: Riya seized the rope handle and pulled herself up the climbing wall.
Example 3: The kitten seized the ball of wool and rolled across the floor.
Fun Fact
Machines can seize up too: when a bicycle chain or an engine stiffens and stops moving because it has run short of oil, people say it has seized.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
zeesi
a) sieve
b) size
c) sneeze
d) seize
Show answer
d) seize. Sneeze needs an n, sieve needs a v, and size is a letter short.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
sei__
a) c,e
b) s,s
c) z,z
d) z,e
Show answer
d) z,e. The buzzing sound is written with the same letter as in zoo, and a silent e closes the word.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) tommorow
b) grammer
c) seize
d) definately
Show answer
c) seize. Grammar ends in ar, tomorrow has one m and a double r, and definitely has no a.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
seize
a) snatch
b) clutch
c) release
d) capture
Show answer
c) release. You release something when you let it go, the opposite of holding on tight.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If you seize a chance, you ____.
a) wait until next year
b) give it to a friend
c) act on it at once
d) let it slip past you
Show answer
c) act on it at once
2. Which picture best matches the word seize?
a) a monkey whisking a banana off a table
b) a child sleeping on the school bus
c) a leaf drifting slowly down a stream
d) a clock ticking on a classroom wall
Show answer
a) a monkey whisking a banana off a table
