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.
Atlantic Lottery - another government-owned corporation that manages lotteries - told Canadian media that about one per cent of prizes go unclaimed, often much smaller sums.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
"There is a lot of funding that goes unclaimed because students don't know that they're eligible for it," he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
The California Lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion for public schools in unclaimed prizes since 1985 when tickets first went on sale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The reader who suggested leaving Social Security benefits unclaimed, if you don’t need them, does raise an interesting question about personal responsibility.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
In fact no personal articles: what greeted him consisted of unclaimed debris which Polokov had inherited when he took the apartment and which in leaving he had abandoned to the next—if any—tenant.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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