expropriation

Cultural  

1. The taking over of private property by a government, often without fair compensation but usually with a legal assertion that the government has a right to do so.

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Example Sentences

Bill Ackman, the vociferous hedge-fund manager based in New York, called the California union’s proposal “an expropriation of private property” in a post on X this week.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

Refineries and other assets of foreign companies were seized; the government paid Exxon, Mobil, Gulf and Shell $1 billion each for the expropriation, well below the value of their holdings.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025

“The Americans forced one of the most entrepreneurial countries on Earth into an expropriation lite,” says Dimitar Lilkov, a senior research officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.

From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025

Ms Munch disagrees with the expropriation plans because they include the centre of the village, encompassing the residents' homes and shared businesses including a restaurant, hotel, bakery, butchers and a dairy.

From BBC • Aug. 16, 2025

Yearly subsidies, accorded about 1442, to Florentine silk-manufacturers, who immigrated; in 1493, a species of expropriation, in case of houses which a neighbor needed for manufacturing purposes.

From Principles of Political Economy, Vol. II by Roscher, Wilhelm

Related Words

• appropriation
• confiscation