Emily Dickinson Lexicon

U-SURP', v.t. [s as z. Fr. usurper; L. usurpo.]

To seize and hold in possession by force or without right; as, to usurp a throne; to usurp the prerogatives of the crown; to usurp power. To usurp the right of a patron, to oust or dispossess him. Vice sometimes usurps the place of virtue. Denham. [Usurp is not applied to common dispossession of private property.]