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# possessed

«possessed» in Mova's school dictionary: **Had or owned** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective; past form of the verb possess

### meaning for a pupil

1) (past form, formal) Had or owned. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#m1)

2) (adjective) Controlled by an evil spirit or a very strong feeling, as in ghost stories. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#m2)

3) possessed of (formal, old): having a quality. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In ghost stories: "the house was possessed". In formal maths problems: "Tom possessed 15 cards" just means he had 15. Phrases: like a man possessed (doing something with wild energy), possessed by.

### examples

- Tom possessed 15 cards before the game. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x1)
- In the film, the doll was possessed by a ghost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x2)
- He ran like a man possessed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x3)
- She possessed great courage. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x4)
- The old knight possessed a magic sword. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x5)
- What possessed you to paint the cat? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x6)
- A WOMAN possessed a Hen that gave her an egg every day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/possessed/#x7)

### note

See also "possess". "Like someone possessed" means very fast or wildly. In maths, "possessed" gives the starting amount.

### 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/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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