claim
to demand by or as by virtue of a right; demand as a right or as due: to claim an estate by inheritance.
to assert and demand the recognition of (a right, title, possession, etc.); assert one's right to: to claim payment for services.
to assert or maintain as a fact: She claimed that he was telling the truth.
to require as due or fitting: to claim respect.
to make or file a claim: to claim for additional compensation.
a demand for something as due; an assertion of a right or an alleged right: He made unreasonable claims on the doctor's time.
an assertion of something as a fact: He made no claims to originality.
a right to claim or demand; a just title to something: His claim to the heavyweight title is disputed.
something that is claimed, especially a piece of public land for which formal request is made for mining or other purposes.
a request or demand for payment in accordance with an insurance policy, a workers' compensation law, etc.: We filed a claim for compensation from the company.
Idioms about claim
lay claim to, to declare oneself entitled to: I have never laid claim to being an expert in tax laws.
Origin of claim
1synonym study For claim
word story For claim
The verb claim originally meant “to assert a legal right, to make a demand for something that is one’s due.” In the 19th century, claim developed a looser, less strict sense, especially in American usage, “to make an unsubstantiated statement; assert or maintain as a fact,” a meaning considered inelegant at that time but also one that occurs in the writings of Chaucer.
The legal term quitclaim meaning “to quit or give up a right or claim” dates from the 14th century in England. The noun claim meaning “a request or demand for payment in accordance with an insurance policy” dates from the 19th century.
Just as we intuitively understand the relationship between claim and quitclaim, it's pretty clear how the words acclaim, reclaim, proclaim, etc., are related in meaning and etymology to claim.
Other words for claim
Other words from claim
- claim·a·ble, adjective
- claimless, adjective
- mis·claim, verb (used with object)
- non·claim·a·ble, adjective
- o·ver·claim, verb (used with object)
- pre·claim, verb (used with object), noun
- su·per·claim, noun
- un·claimed, adjective
- un·claim·ing, adjective
Words Nearby claim
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use claim in a sentence
Before the 2016 election and, from a bigger platform, before the 2020 election, he amplified unfounded claims about the flaws in the electoral system to try to backstop his potential electoral loss.
What happens to an entrenched two-party system when one party undermines the system? | Philip Bump | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostTo be sure, Brooks recognizes the “otherization” at play when officers peremptorily reject claims that racial bias insinuates itself into policing decisions by reducing 7-D residents to “animals.”
A Georgetown professor trades her classroom for a police beat | Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostThose claims came into question on Thursday, when the Associated Press reported that leaders of the organization were notified in June of at least 10 harassment claims against Weaver, including two involving Lincoln Project employees.
Lincoln Project tweeted a co-founder’s private messages after leaders promised to probe sexual harassment claims | Andrea Salcedo | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostA HUD official told The Washington Post that Thursday’s move expands the universe of people who can file a fair-housing complaint because individuals will no longer have to make a nonconformity allegation in discrimination claims.
HUD expands fair housing protections for transgender people | Tracy Jan | February 11, 2021 | Washington PostIf it stops you, maybe you should switch to DEET, sunscreen, or Johnson Wax, as the users of these products make the same claim.
Defenders of the status quo claim the old rules protect consumers.
Why Do ‘Progressives’ Want to Ban Uber and AirBnB? | Adam Thierer, Christopher Koopman | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHow the hell does somebody show up at a David Duke organized event in 2002 and claim ignorance?
No. 3 Republican Admits Talking to White Supremacist Conference | Tim Mak | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe claim is one of a series of allegations made in a controversial documentary that the BBC has now pulled.
Pulled Documentary Says William Felt ‘Used’ by Charles’ Push for Camilla | Tom Sykes | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey were called La Red Avispa (The Wasp Network) and claim to have successfully foiled a number of threats against the island.
Of Cuban Spies, a Baby, and a Filmmaker: The Strange Tale of the Cuban Five | Nina Strochlic | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe FBI and the President may claim that the Hermit Kingdom is to blame for the most high-profile network breach in forever.
The purchasers found that this claim was not well founded, and sought to recover their money.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementI claim that it contains many errors of fact, and the Higher Criticism supports the claim; as we shall see.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordHe took mental inventory of his possessions and what he could lay claim to, and he happened to think about his wife's homestead.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxHaving thus enrolled himself as one of the Agency Indians, he had a claim on this the Agency doctor.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonWho was he, indeed, that he should claim the right to thwart another's happiness, hinder another's best self-realisation?
The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
British Dictionary definitions for claim
/ (kleɪm) /
to demand as being due or as one's property; assert one's title or right to: he claimed the record
(takes a clause as object or an infinitive) to assert as a fact; maintain against denial: he claimed to be telling the truth
to call for or need; deserve: this problem claims our attention
to take: the accident claimed four lives
an assertion of a right; a demand for something as due
an assertion of something as true, real, or factual: he made claims for his innocence
a right or just title to something; basis for demand: a claim to fame
lay claim to or stake a claim to to assert one's possession of or right to
anything that is claimed, esp in a formal or legal manner, such as a piece of land staked out by a miner
law a document under seal, issued in the name of the Crown or a court, commanding the person to whom it is addressed to do or refrain from doing some specified act: former name writ 1
a demand for payment in connection with an insurance policy, etc
the sum of money demanded
Origin of claim
1Derived forms of claim
- claimable, adjective
- claimer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with claim
In addition to the idiom beginning with claim
- claim check
also see:
- lay claim to
- stake a claim
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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