lay claim to

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

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.

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“He sends out masked men, he sends out Border Patrol, he sends out ICE, he creates anxiety and fear in the community so that he can lay claim to solving that by sending in the Guard,” Newsom said.

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Far from avoiding transcendent artistic experiences, the left can lay claim to most of them.

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Whichever nation establishes a presence there first could lay claim to the region for themselves.

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Of course, China's parade – while dripping with futuristic weaponry - offered some historical narrative, as well – an attempt by the communist government to lay claim to a larger role in defeating fascism and imperialism in World War Two.

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Related Words

• allege 
• ask 
• assert 
• believe 
• call for 
• challenge 
• collect 
• declare 
• defend 
• hold 
• insist 
• need 
• take