From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpossesspos‧sess /pəˈzes/ ●●○ W3 verb [transitive] 1 formalHAVEOWN to have a particular quality or ability Different workers possess different skills. He no longer possessed the power to frighten her.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say that someone has or has got something rather than possesses it:They all have different skills.2 formal or lawHAVEOWN to have or own something Neither of them possessed a credit card. Campbell was found guilty of possessing heroin.► see thesaurus at own3 → what possessed somebody (to do something)?4 literaryFEEL HOT/COLD/TIRED ETC if a feeling possesses you, you suddenly feel it very strongly and it affects your behaviour A mad rage possessed her.GRAMMAR: Using the progressivePossess is not used in the progressive when it means ‘have’ or ‘own’. You say: He possesses many good qualities. ✗Don’t say: He is possessing many good qualities.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
possess• Because of his gambling, he lost everything he possessed.• Hamly admitted illegally possessing a handgun.• The Western Highlands possess a beauty and a majesty found nowhere else in Britain.• The Church possesses a bone from the saint's leg.• Lipatti s performance possesses a clarity of articulation, a depth of sonority and an energy that shine through the crackly recording.• Like all towns and villages on Trinidad, it possessed a cricket ground.• Japetus alone possessed a distinctive geography, and a very strange one indeed.• Very few families in this area possess a telephone.• He possessed an unusual ability to learn languages quickly.• Too many nations already possess chemical weapons.• But with only two characters you can't hope to control everything, or claim to possess every solution.• Jo believed that demons possessed her.• A sense of fear possessed him as he walked into the old house.• Zorna is said to possess miraculous healing powers.• The number of nations that possess nuclear weapons has risen.• Let us assume that the entire being is possessed of 1,000 arbitrary units of life force.• He never wore a suit - I don't think he possessed one.• If a child is learning at grade level, by definition he or she must possess reasonably good intellectual abilities.• The rhetorical theorist does not assume that only some societies possess the rhetorical capacity to argue.• The caller claimed to possess valuable information about the boy's whereabouts.From Longman Business Dictionarypossesspos‧sess /pəˈzes/ verb [transitive] formal1to own or have something, especially something valuable or important, or something illegalThe US is the only country that possesses global economic, military and political power.Judges rarely send people to jail for possessing illegal drugs, but they jail people for selling them.2to have a characteristic or abilityHe possesses the qualities required to manage the organization’s varied commercial interests.→ See Verb tableOrigin possess (1300-1400) Old French possesser, from Latin possidere 