1. In legislative parlance, or manner of speaking, an across-the-board decrease in domestic spending: The President ordered a sequester of $2.5 billion in budget cuts for the next year.
2. A person with whom litigants deposit property that is being contested until the case has been concluded in court: Gertrude was in court to sue her former husband to fulfill support obligations and Judge Smith was expected to determine what the court appointed sequester would provide to each of the recipients.
3. Spending reductions by the government: Arguments by congressional members and the administration have not solved the sequester that involves government spending.

The word, sequester, is enough to send shivers of fiscal panic, or sheer political malaise, for seasoned politicians and news reporters.

The sequester will mean disturbing conditions because it forces agencies to cut indiscriminately, instead of simply stripping money from their overall budgets.

Given the sequester's all-around undesirability, the scenario appears to be a short-term fix after the sequester goes into effect in a few weeks.

When President Obama addressed the nation via TV to protest that the sequester shouldn't be allowed to happen, he suggested that Congress pass a temporary measure to give both sides enough time to reach a long-term arrangement.

1. To keep a person or a group of people separated from others and not allow them to discuss a legal case, to read, or to hear news reports about it: The jury will be secluded, or sequestered, until a final verdict has been reached.

Cleo's sister sequestered herself away her family and friends until she was able to complete her nonfiction book about government incompetence and corruption.

2. To take temporary possession of property as security against legal claims: Mack's house will be sequestered until he pays the debt that he owes the bank. © ALL rights are reserved.

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