lay claim
Declare something yours
To lay claim is to assert ownership or rights over something: Several parties laid claim to the inheritance.
The phrase often implies the claim is contested or not yet established: Both countries lay claim to the territory.
You can lay claim to intangibles too—credit, authority, a legacy: She laid claim to the title of best-selling author.
- appropriateSuited to circumstance
- entitleGrant right or name
- property rightsLegal control over possessions
- arrogateClaim without justification
- seizeTake suddenly, forcibly
land grab · assert · usurp · dibs · finders keepers · profess · insist · declare · requisition · call for · demand · commandeer · stake · occupy · avow · squatter · squatter's rights · pretend