unclaimed
Britishadjective
Explanation
Unclaimed things haven't been collected or demanded, like an unclaimed sweatshirt in the lost-and-found bin at school. When you claim something, you make a formal request for it or assert that you have a right to it, the way you claim your seat at the theater or claim your bag from the baggage carousel at the airport. Bags that left at the airport or seats left empty? Those are unclaimed.
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.
A spokesperson for Cohen told The Times her office is using media to get out the word about unclaimed funds and has digitized the claim system.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
A preliminary investigation shows it may be a case of an "unlawful disposal of unclaimed corpses", it added.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
It didn’t, however, require any party to renounce its previous claims, nor did it permanently bar future claims on previously unclaimed territory.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
If the funds are not claimed, the money will be classified as unclaimed property.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 7, 2026
But when the tent folded up, I found I had Nathan Price in my life instead, a handsome young red-haired preacher who fell upon my unclaimed soul like a dog on a bone.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
