sequester

[ si-kwes-ter ]
See synonyms for: sequestersequestered on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to remove or withdraw into solitude or retirement; seclude.

  2. to remove or separate; banish; exile.

  1. to keep apart from others; segregate or isolate: The jury was sequestered until a verdict was reached.

  2. Law. to remove (property) temporarily from the possession of the owner; seize and hold, as the property and income of a debtor, until legal claims are satisfied.

  3. International Law. to requisition, hold, and control (enemy property).

  4. to trap (a chemical in the atmosphere or environment) and isolate it in a natural or artificial storage area: There are processes to sequester carbon from a power plant's exhaust gases.Plants can sequester toxins and store them in their tissues.

noun
  1. an act or instance of sequestering; separation; isolation.

  2. sequestration (def. 7): domestic programs starved for cash by the federal sequester.

Origin of sequester

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English sequestren, from Latin sequestrāre “to put in hands of a trustee,” derivative of sequester “trustee, depositary”

Other words from sequester

  • se·ques·tra·ble, adjective
  • non·se·ques·tered, adjective
  • self-se·ques·tered, adjective
  • un·se·ques·tered, adjective

Words Nearby sequester

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sequester in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sequester

sequester

/ (sɪˈkwɛstə) /


verb(tr)
  1. to remove or separate

  2. (usually passive) to retire into seclusion

  1. law to take (property) temporarily out of the possession of its owner, esp until the claims of creditors are satisfied or a court order is complied with

  2. international law to requisition or appropriate (enemy property)

Origin of sequester

1
C14: from Late Latin sequestrāre to surrender for safekeeping, from Latin sequester a trustee

Derived forms of sequester

  • sequestrable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012