usurp : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: usurp	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for usurp
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
usurp v seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession; "He assumed to himself the right to fill all positions in the town"; "he usurped my rights"; "She seized control of the throne after her husband died" Synonym(s): assume, usurp, seize, take over, arrogate take the place of; "gloom had usurped mirth at the party after the news of the terrorist act broke"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Usurp \U*surp"\, 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. The parish churches on which the Presbyterians and fanatics had usurped. --Evelyn. And now the Spirits of the Mind Are busy with poor Peter Bell; Upon the rights of visual sense Usurping, with a prevalence More terrible than magic spell. --Wordsworth.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Usurp \Usurp"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Usurped}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Usurping}.] [L. usurpare, usurpatum, to make use of, enjoy, get possession of, usurp; the first part of usurpare is akin to usus use (see {Use}, n.): cf. F. usurper.] 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, would of course be perfectly justifiable. --Burke. Note: Usurp is applied to seizure and use of office, functions, powers, rights, etc.; it is not applied to common dispossession of private property. Syn: To arrogate; assume; appropriate.