Home US English sequester

Definition of sequester in English:

sequester

Pronunciation /səˈkwestər/ /səˈkwɛstər/

See synonyms for sequester

Translate sequester into Spanish

transitive verb

[with object]

  • 1Isolate or hide away.

    ‘Tiberius was sequestered on an island’
    • ‘the jurors had been sequestered since Monday’
    • ‘the artist sequestered himself in his studio for two years’
    isolate oneself, hide oneself away, shut oneself away, seclude oneself, cut oneself off, shut oneself off, set oneself apart, segregate oneself
    View synonyms

  • 2Take legal possession of (assets) until a debt has been paid or other claims have been met.

    • ‘the power of courts to sequester the assets of unions’
    1. 2.1Take forcible possession of (something); confiscate.
      • ‘rebel property was sequestered and a military government installed’
    2. 2.2Legally place (the property of a bankrupt) in the hands of a trustee for division among the creditors.
      • ‘a trustee in a sequestered estate’

  • 3Chemistry
    Form a chelate or other stable compound with (an ion, atom, or molecule) so that it is no longer available for reactions.

    ‘non-precipitating water softeners use complex phosphates to sequester calcium and magnesium ions’
    • ‘the organic sequestering agent EDTA’

noun

US

  • A general cut in government spending.

    • ‘if the budget deal hadn't gone through, there would have been a sequester of at least $100 billion’

Origin

Late Middle English from Old French sequestrer or late Latin sequestrare ‘commit for safekeeping’, from Latin sequester ‘trustee’.