possession is nine points of the law

Idioms  

1. Actually holding something is better than merely claiming it. For example, When Karen told John he must return the sofa he'd borrowed, he said possession is nine points of the law. This term originally alluded to nine elements that would aid someone's lawsuit, among them a good lawyer, good witnesses, a good jury, a good judge, and good luck. In time, however, the term was used more for squatter's rights. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

possession is nine points of the law

Turkey set covetous eyes on Mosul, synonym for oil; Britain set faith on the adage "possession is nine points of the law."

From Time Magazine Archive

Of course, it's my right too, for when a man's birth is that way, there's no heirship by blood, and possession is nine points of the law.

From The Manxman A Novel - 1895 by Sir Hall Caine

"I have always heard that possession is nine points of the law," said he, impudent and apparently unintimidated.

From The Princess Passes by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson

The best of Shakspeare's dramas, King Lear, is the least fitted for representation; and, even for the vilest alteration, it ought in candor to be considered that possession is nine points of the law.

From Biographical Essays by Thomas De Quincey

Did you ever hear," continued the spokesman, "that possession is nine points of the law and that the tenth isn't worth fighting about?

From Go Ahead Boys and the Racing Motorboat by Ross Kay

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