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commandeer

[kom-uhn-deer]

verb (used with object)

to order or force into active military service.

to seize (private property) for military or other public use: The police officer commandeered a taxi and took off after the getaway car.

to seize arbitrarily.

Origin:
1880–85; < Afrikaans kommandeer < French commander to command

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To commandeer

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Commandeer is one of our favorite verbs.

So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

to spend time idly; loaf.

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Example Sentences

The foreman goes over the edge when he tries to beat the vintner to death so he can commandeer the ranch.

The police were so outgunned that they had to commandeer high-powered rifles from a local gun shop.

More sophisticated pirates are usually members of organized gangs that may commandeer ships and hold crews for ransom.

EXPAND

The foreman goes over the edge when he tries to beat the vintner to death so he can commandeer the ranch.

The police were so outgunned that they had to commandeer high-powered rifles from a local gun shop.

More sophisticated pirates are usually members of organized gangs that may commandeer ships and hold crews for ransom.

Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough.

The gunman, struck by five shots and bleeding heavily, fled the office and tried to commandeer a car at a busy intersection.

Perhaps this is in part a reaction to official efforts to commandeer the nation's history for fleeting political goals.

The parasites can even commandeer blood cells to help aid their survival.

The real genius comes when you commandeer a giant slime-shaped tank, then square off against enemy vehicles.

He tried to commandeer a tow truck, but was captured by other troopers.

Whether this is to commandeer an airplane at the last.

The detailed images of alien vistas, after one pores over them for days or weeks, commandeer the imagination.

The researchers do not commandeer the rats' brains and directly command the animals, zombie-like, where to go.

And when my kids inevitably commandeer the iPod for playing their games, well, they have a lot of trouble keeping earbuds in.

The idea that the federal government can commandeer states' resources for its enforcement schemes seems ripe for legal challenge.

McClain, as an actress and singer, clearly has the potential to commandeer prepubescent culture.

Skeptics likewise say that militants can commandeer a car or a compound from neighbors who cannot safely refuse the demands.

Isha would frequently commandeer the vacuum cleaner and give the carpets a thorough cleaning.

Without tables or seating, customers commandeer neighbors' stoops and doorways.

He was able to help commandeer pilots and airplanes to ferry equipment to where it was needed.

Helicopters were unavailable, and police had to commandeer civilian boats to reach the island.

Murdoch's allies to commandeer the business he had built.

If they so chose, the children could commandeer their own bunk room on the lower level of the house.

He is a cultural sponge who seems to want to absorb and commandeer every conversation within his hearing.

Young people commandeer the seats and don't offer them to the people who really need them much more than they.

Langella, playing a control freak, unconditionally commandeer the stage.

Black ultimately managed to commandeer seats for the three of them.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

commandeer (ˌkɒmənˈdɪə)

—vb
1.	to seize for public or military use
2.	to seize arbitrarily

[C19: from Afrikaans kommandeer, from French commander to command]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

commandeer

1881, from Du. (esp. Afrikaans) kommandeeren "to command" (for military service), from Fr. commander (see command).

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commandeer

com·man·deer