Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TYR'AN-NIZE, v.i. [Fr. tyranniser.]

To act the tyrant; to exercise arbitrary power; to rule with unjust and oppressive severity; to exercise power over others not permitted by law or required by justice, or with a severity not necessary to the ends of justice and government. A prince will often tyrannize over his subjects; republican legislatures sometimes tyrannize over their fellow citizens; masters sometimes tyrannize over their servants or apprentices. A husband may not tyrannize over his wife and children.