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Synonyms

lay claim to

Idioms  

  1. Assert one's right to or ownership of, as in “What claim lays she to thee?” (Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, 3:2). [Late 1500s] Also see stake a claim.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One of the few stocks that can lay claim to outperforming Nvidia has done it again.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 26, 2026

He told senior U.S. officials that if his company couldn’t pump oil in Venezuela, China would do so instead and lay claim to the region’s oil riches.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

A row has broken out between two German states, Bavaria and Thuringia, as to who can lay claim to inventing the Bratwurst sausage.

From BBC • Aug. 14, 2025

They also generally had no income of their own, because their parents lay claim to any wages they earned for work.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2025

Plus, it didn’t seem fair for me to lay claim to public property.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.