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To seize and waste; to exhaust; to consume. Corruption swallowed what the liberal hand Of bounty scattered. Thomson.

loq.] At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for those who could swarm up and seize it. W. Coxe.

To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken.

To seize; to lay hold of; to grapple; as, a wrestler tackles his antagonist; a dog tackles the game. The greatest poetess of our day has wasted her time and strength in tackling windmills under conditions the most fitted to insure her defeat. Dublin Univ. Mag.

In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: --

Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent dread; fright. Terror seized the rebel host. Milton.

s I forgive; and therewithal Remit thy other forfeits. Shak. And therewithal one came and seized on her, And Enid started waking. Tennyson.

To seize, pull, and tear prey, as a hawk does. [Obs.] Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast, Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh, and bone. Shak. Ye dregs of baseness, vultures among men, That tire upon the hearts of generous spirits. B. Jonson.

To take fast hold of; to seize and hold firmly; to pounce upon. [Obs.] Who trussing me as eagle doth his prey. Spenser.

Seized or caught up. " She bears upcaught a mariner away." Cowper.

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. Alack, thou dost usurp authority. Shak. Another revolution, to get rid of this illegitimate and usurped government, wo…

One who usurps; especially, one who seizes illegally on sovereign power; as, the usurper of a throne, of power, or of the rights of a patron. A crown will not want pretenders to claim it, not usurpers, if their power serves them, to possess it. South.

which take their prey in a web, but which also frequently run with agility, and chase and seize their prey.

to meet or encounter in the way; especially, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid. Shak. She often contrived to waylay him in his walks. Sir W. Scott.