seize on

Resort to some action, especially out of dire necessity, as in He seized upon any excuse, no matter how farfetched .
Grab or take hold of suddenly, as in He seized on the bell rope and started to pull vigorously , or She seized upon every opportunity to present her side of the story . [Late 1600s]

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, seize upon .

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Example Sentences

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China has been trying to seize on the volatility brought by Trump.

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The story was seized on by Labour and the Lib Dems, who urged Badenoch to sack her former leadership rival for contradicting her - but her spokesman insisted there were no differences between them.

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It should perhaps be no surprise, then, that the second time around, Donald Trump seized on Guantánamo as a possible place to house the immigrants he sought to deport from this country.

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The Labor government seized on the policy changes when campaigning on Monday.

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Republicans who have seized on the issue portray it as a deeply unfair example of “woke” politics run amok.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

seized seize up

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