(s)appropriate

6. : to take without permission : pilfer, purloin <he appropriated my notebook -- R.M.Lovett>
compare preempt, usurp, arrogate, confiscate
these verbs all mean to seize or take over more or less dictatorially.
but it signifies more generally to take over or acquire without authority or with questionable authority, usually also implying a conversion to one's own use of the thing taken over
1. : specially suitable : fit, proper
<sit down anywhere and the ~ waiter comes up -- P.E.Deutschman> <gift packages are likewise ~ for the girls you regularly remember -Phoenix Flame> <by any means ~ to our use -- George Meredith>
arrogate
arrogate stresses an extreme highhandedness, as of presumption or insolence, and usually has as its object a right, power, or function <a ruthlessness that arrogates to them sole control of local political life -- T.H.White> <not only did he reconstitute himself the final court of appeals, but he gradually arrogated to himself the function of all the courts -G.W.Johnson>
preempt
preempt adds to appropriate the idea of beforehandedness and suggests a stronger action, as a seizure, especially of something desired by others
usurp
usurp stresses more the idea of the unlawfulness or unwarranted nature of the action and more frequently has as its object rather powers, rights, or offices taken by strong-arm methods than tangible goods seized by force
1. : to annex (a benefice) to a spiritual corporation to its perpetual use -- distinguished from impropriate
2. archaic : to assign or attribute as specially belonging
<new rulers have to prove that they have not usurped their title, but possess some higher right to govern than the mere fact of having
grabbed power -- Aldous Huxley>
3. obsolete : attached as an accessory possession synonym: fit
confiscate
confiscate stresses stongly the idea of unwarranted seizure itself, suggesting often rather a display of power or control than any conversion of the thing seized to one's own purpose
4. archaic : to make suitable : suit <terms so exquisitely appropriated to the character he draws -- E.V.Lucas>
5. : to set apart for or assign to a particular purpose or use in exclusion of all others <~ money for the navy> <~ the building for storage>
2. : belonging peculiarly : special <an ~ symbol of that swanky and luxurious town -- Virgil Thomson> <the pupil lacks the qualities ~ to the master's style -- David Sylvester>
In the order appropriate, preempt, usurp, arrogate, confiscate they may be said to form an ascending scale of highhandedness.
appropriate
appropriate has the common meaning of to set aside for a special purpose <it would not be easy to induce the town to appropriate money for improvements -- American Guide Series: Maine>
<pots and pans confiscated from the kitchen -- R.M.Lovett>
II appropriate
sometimes -ē.āt; usu -d.+V adjective
Etymology: Middle English appropriat, from Late Latin appropriatus
<to the natives, it is sacrilegious ... for the white men to appropriate the sacred watering places -- Rex Ingamells> <the winners appropriated all of the best jobs -Charlton Laird>
<preempt a lion's share of the profits>
<the Hindu Maharajah ... preempted the country's entire public motor transport - Faubion Bowers>
<tall, modern apartments preempt washington Square West -- American Guide Series: New York City>
<the executive officer of the Caine who usurps command from Captain Queeg in the midst of the typhoon -- H.W.Baldwin>
<legislative assemblies have usurped the powers which rightfully belong to the executive branch -- H.J.Morgenthau> <the persistence with which certain birds usurped and clung to favorite perches -William Beebe>
3. a) : to make peculiarly the possession of someone <~ goods to the lord> <~ the money to himself> b) : to claim or use as if by an exclusive or preeminent right <let no man ~ a common benefit>
<they confiscated Tory property worth a million dollars -- American Guide Series: North Carolina>
<eight were banished from the United States and their property confiscated -- H.S.Canby>
<the artist's productivity pretends to be creation, that is, it arrogates to man what is the privilege of God -Hannah Arendt> <the clique which had arrogated to itself the function of dictating to Ireland in all things literary -M.P.Linehan>