lay claim to

Related to lay claim to: stand pat, point out, run by, Pertaining to

lay claim to (something)

To assert that one has the legal or proper right to own or possess something. If no one lays claim to the wallet within 48 hours, you'll be able to keep it for yourself. The youngest son is laying claim to the business now that their father has passed away.
See also: claim, lay
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

lay claim to something

to place a claim on something. Do you really think you can lay claim to that money after all these years? Someone came by and laid claim to the wallet you found.
See also: claim, lay
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

lay claim to

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.
See also: claim, lay
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

lay claim to

To assert one's right to or ownership of.
See also: claim, lay
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • (one) could use (something)
  • drive (one) out of office
  • force (one) out of office
  • force out of office
  • give (one) (one's) head
  • give head
  • give somebody their head
  • give someone their head
  • cooking for one
  • 1FTR
References in periodicals archive
It had been feared that the DCA would lay claim to the building under a proposed reorganisation of court administration with any profits from its sale going to London.
Shire Hall fears are lifted
Perhaps the `answer', or at least part of it, may lie with the forming of an international association which can lay claim to all of the planet's water, be it fresh, saline or polluted.
Avoiding a water fight. (Prize Letter with amazon.co.uk)
Russell was keen to lay claim to Scottish roots during the publicity rounds for his latest film.
Glad he's a Scot
These burgeoning Internet ventures can lay claim to a Hispanic audience that is expected to nearly quadruple, from 10 million to 38 million, by 2003.
Musica Explosion
To another FA Carling Premiership championship, Sir Alex Ferguson can now lay claim to the title - Carling Opta Manager of the Season.
Football: Manager of the Season
The bottom fifth in contrast could lay claim to less than 1 percent of the earth's GDP.
It's a poor world, after all
It's been over twenty-five years, and I still can lay claim to being called "The Pop-Up Queen" when it comes to water skiing.
Confessions of a Pop-Up Queen
For example, he says, some months ago the conservative coalition government put forward amendments to the Native Title Act, making it much more difficult for Aboriginals to lay claim to land with which they had a longstanding relationship.
One life to live: voting for the disadvantaged
India and Pakistan both lay claim to all of Kashmir, which is divided between them.
Japan warns against traveling to Kashmir
Not until the middle of the sixteenth century can Venice lay claim to a tradition in sculpture of independent portraiture, and the city's finest exponent in the genre was Alessandro Vittoria, originally from Trent.
Tullio Lombardo and Ideal Portrait Sculpture in Renaissance Venice: 1490-1530
Eventually, the cells lay claim to the man and, as the ballet closes, to the young woman, whose body now shows the red telltale taint of permeating infection.
Peter and the Wolf
'My lord, I've come to court to legally secure a divorce so that she won't wake up one day again and lay claim to me as her husband, 'Rasheed told the court.
'She told me she was no longer interested in our marriage after cheating on me'
We persevered and exposed this travesty of justice but the episode raises important questions about a government that likes to lay claim to transparency.
Compo shame; VOICE OF THE voice@mirror.co.uk
But we Brits can lay claim Brits can lay claim to the creation of Christmas cards after John Calcott Horsley sold 1,000 of his first cards which carried the picture of a family party in 1843.
Did You Know?
According to American gossip mags, they are concerned the musician may lay claim to her fortune - worth an estimated pounds 100m.
the Razz: Nicole warning