MEANING
1. To have, own, or hold something, including a quality or ability.
2. To seize or dominate someone or something, especially in descriptions of supernatural control.
3. To bring one's feelings or faculties under control.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- possess knowledge
- possess a key
On the page
She possessed the only surviving key.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- possess
- Past tense
- possessed
- Past participle
- possessed
- Present participle
- possessing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- possess
- Present continuous
- am/is/are possessing
- Present perfect
- have/has possessed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been possessing
- Past
- possessed
- Past continuous
- was/were possessing
- Past perfect
- had possessed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been possessing
- Future
- will possess
- Future continuous
- will be possessing
- Future perfect
- will have possessed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been possessing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror / gothic. Forms: possess; possesses; possessed; possessed; possessing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: possesses.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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