possession

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Law

n. the state of having or carrying something.

n. the state of having, owning, or controlling something; often used in legal contexts regarding illegal items.

“The police arrested the man for being in possession of a stolen car.”

“The defendant was charged with the illegal possession of controlled substances after a routine search of his vehicle.”

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun Sports

n. the time when a player or team has the ball.

n. the state of having control of the ball or puck, allowing a team to be on the offensive.

“Our team had possession of the ball for most of the second half.”

“Despite having seventy percent of the possession, the home team failed to convert any of their chances into a goal.”

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Science Technical

n. a way of showing that something belongs to someone in a sentence.

n. a syntactic relationship between nouns or pronouns indicating ownership or a close association.

“In the phrase 'the teacher's book', the apostrophe shows possession.”

“The professor explained how different languages use various morphological markers to indicate possession within a noun phrase.”

C2 · Proficiency Uncountable noun Religion Literary

n. the state of being controlled by an evil spirit or demon.

n. the state of being inhabited or controlled by a supernatural entity, such as a demon or spirit.

Español:posesión

“The old stories tell of a man who suffered from demonic possession.”

“The film explores the psychological and spiritual implications of a suspected case of possession in a remote village.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Formal

n. a country or area that is controlled by another country.

n. a territory or colony under the rule or sovereignty of a foreign power.

“The island was once a colonial possession of the British Empire.”

“Historians analyzed the economic impact of maintaining overseas possessions during the nineteenth century.”