seize upon

present singular third person seizes upon · participle present seizing upon · participle past seized upon · past seized upon · alternative seize on

1. To grasp or take hold of (an object) suddenly, forcibly, or tightly.

   The child seized upon the cat's tail as soon as it was within reach.

   Synonyms: fasten on, hook on, latch on

2. To take up, embrace, enact, or turn eagerly to (a plan, idea, ideology, cause, practice, method, etc.); to grasp, understand, and accept quickly; to adopt wholeheartedly or vigorously.

   The committee seized upon the new plan at once.

   2 more examples

   I heard her ideas and seized upon them immediately.

   Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

3. To take possession of or claim (an idea, person, event, etc.) as one's own; to assimilate, absorb, annex, co-opt.

   After the controversy of her public statement, she has been the darling of right-wing groups who have seized upon her as the poster child of their cause.