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possession

n.
US //pəˈzɛʃən// UK //pəzˈɛʃən// pos·ses·sion
  1. 1 something you own (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    something that you own or have with you.

    a physical object or asset belonging to a person; often used in the plural to refer to personal effects.

    Example

    Please make sure you take all your personal possessions with you when you leave the train.

    Example

    After the fire, the family was devastated to realize they had lost almost every personal possession they had accumulated over the decades.
  2. 2 the state of owning (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Law

    the state of having or carrying something.

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

    Example

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

    Example

    The defendant was charged with the illegal possession of controlled substances after a routine search of his vehicle.
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  1. 3 sporting control (n.)
    B1 Intermediate Sport

    the time when a player or team has the ball.

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

    Example

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

    Example

    Despite having seventy percent of the possession, the home team failed to convert any of their chances into a goal.
  2. 4 grammar (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Science

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

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

    Example

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

    Example

    The professor explained how different languages use various morphological markers to indicate possession within a noun phrase.
    • genitive
  3. 5 supernatural control (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Literary Religion

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

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

    Example

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

    Example

    The film explores the psychological and spiritual implications of a suspected case of possession in a remote village.
  4. 6 a colony (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    a country or area that is controlled by another country.

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

    Example

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

    Example

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

From Latin possessiō, possessiōnis. Equivalent to possess + -ion.

Idioms1 entry

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