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# possess

«possess» in Mova's school dictionary: **To own or have something** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (possess, possesses, possessed, possessing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) To own or have something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#m1)

2) (formal) To have a quality or skill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#m2)

3) (of a feeling or spirit) To take control of someone's mind, as in stories about ghosts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#m3)

4) (informal, in questions) "What possessed you?" = why on earth did you do that? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

A formal word for "have" in exam problems: "Tom possesses 12 marbles". In stories, people can be "possessed" by spirits. Phrases: in possession of, what possessed you, possessed by.

### examples

- Tom possesses 12 marbles and gives away 5. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x1)
- She possesses great courage. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x2)
- The museum possesses a famous painting. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x3)
- In the story, the doll was possessed by a ghost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x4)
- What possessed you to climb on the roof? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x5)
- Do you possess a library card? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x6)
- He possesses a talent for drawing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x7)
- "We'll give you half of all we possess." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/#x8)

### note

Spelling: double s twice: possess. Noun: possession. In a maths problem "possesses" simply means "has": the number is how many the person has at the start.

### In the corpora

- [The Rat: «He is now possessed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/32-willows-ch2-part4-the-wreck-and-the-new-craze/27/)
- [thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy GOD giveth thee to possess it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.522/)
- [All thy trees and the fruit of thy land shall the locust possess.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.779/)
- [Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JDG.43/)
- [Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JDG.361/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «possess» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possess/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.