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Webster 1913 Edition


obsess

ob-sess′

,
Verb.
T.
[L.
obsessus
, p. p. of
obsidere
to besiege;
ob
(see
Ob-
) +
sedere
to sit.]
1.
To besiege; to beset.
[archaic]
Sir T. Elyot.

Webster 1828 Edition


Obsess

OBSESS'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. obsideo, obsessus; ob and sedeo, to sit.] To besiege. [Not used.]

Definition 2024


obsess

obsess

English

Verb

obsess (third-person singular simple present obsesses, present participle obsessing, simple past and past participle obsessed)

  1. (passive, constructed with "with") To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion.
    Some people are obsessed with sports.
    • 2014 June 21, Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
      The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.
  2. (transitive) To dominate the thoughts of someone.
    Thoughts of her obsess my every waking moment.
  3. (intransitive, colloquial, construed with over) To think or talk obsessively about.
    Stop obsessing over it, will you!

Related terms

Translations

External links

  • obsess in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • obsess in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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