Usurp
[jʊ'zɜːp;jʊ'sɜːp] or [ju'zɝp]
Definition
(verb.) take the place of; 'gloom had usurped mirth at the party after the news of the terrorist act broke'.
Inputed by Abner--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To seize, and hold in possession, by force, or without right; as, to usurp a throne; to usurp the prerogatives of the crown; to usurp power; to usurp the right of a patron is to oust or dispossess him.
(v. i.) To commit forcible seizure of place, power, functions, or the like, without right; to commit unjust encroachments; to be, or act as, a usurper.
Checked by Keith
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Seize (without right), arrogate, assume, appropriate unlawfully.
Typed by Allan
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Seize, arrogate, appropriate, assume
ANT:Receive, inherit, accept
Inputed by Armand
Definition
v.t. to take possession of by force without right.—n. Usurpā′tion act of usurping: unlawful seizure and possession: intrusion into an office.—adj. Usur′patory.—ns. Usur′pātrix a female usurper; Usur′pature usurpation.—adv. Usur′pedly.—n. Usur′per.—adj. Usur′ping.—adv. Usur′pingly.
Inputed by Lawrence
Examples
- I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The feudal state was one in which, it has been said, private law had usurped the place of public law. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- These ideas made him inflexible in his rule, and violent in his hate of any who presumed to share with him his usurped empire. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The heir, whose rights he had usurped, was the heir who would now have the estate. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Human being there was none to reply; and the inclemency of the night had driven the wandering animals to the habitations they had usurped. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- He was no sooner within than the pad of the little window in the back of the chariot disappeared, and his eye usurped its place. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- They now filled the air with Long life to Richard with the Lion's Heart, and down with the usurping Templars! Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- His brother sits in the seat, and usurps the patrimony, of a better race, the race of Ulfgar of Middleham; but what Norman lord doth not the same? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Checker: Presley