- To lay claim to
- Claim Claim, n. [Of. claim cry, complaint, from clamer. See
{Claim}, v. t.]
1. A demand of a right or supposed right; a calling on
another for something due or supposed to be due; an
assertion of a right or fact.
[1913 Webster]
2. A right to claim or demand something; a title to any debt, privilege, or other thing in possession of another; also, a title to anything which another should give or concede to, or confer on, the claimant. ``A bar to all claims upon land.'' --Hallam. [1913 Webster]
3. The thing claimed or demanded; that (as land) to which any one intends to establish a right;; as, a settler's claim; a miner's claim. [U.S. & Australia] [1913 Webster]
4. A loud call. [Obs.] --Spenser [1913 Webster]
{To lay claim to}, to demand as a right. ``Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance?'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.