Lay Claim (Verb)
Meaning
Demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to; "He claimed his suitcases at the airline counter"; "Mr. Smith claims special tax exemptions because he is a foreign resident".
Classification
Verbs of buying, selling, owning.
Examples
- The wealthy businessman lay claim to the rare and valuable gemstone his late ancestor once possessed.
- The Native American tribe has been trying to lay claim to their ancestral land for decades but met resistance from the government.
- Several companies lay claim to having developed the revolutionary new technology but none of them can prove it.
- Family members are already arguing over who will lay claim to the deceased artist's famous paintings.
- The explorer's descendants still lay claim to the treasure their ancestor supposedly discovered in the early 19th century.