embargar

to seize, to embargo

verb em-bahr-GAHR Rare

Also means

to overwhelm

Usage Note

Embargar most commonly appears in legal and financial contexts, meaning to seize assets by court order; the noun embargo derives from the same root. In literary use, it can mean to be overcome by emotion (le embargó la emoción), a sense rarely encountered in everyday speech.

Examples

"El juez ordenó embargar sus bienes."

Natural Translation

The judge ordered his assets seized.

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