variants or less commonly landgrab
: a usually swift acquisition of property (such as land or patent rights) often by fraud or force
land-grabber noun

Examples of land grab in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Over 20 years after Mesa attempted a land grab near an intersection of its downtown, a housing and retail project has now gotten underway. Maritza Dominguez, The Arizona Republic, 30 Jan. 2024 Note that this territory is larger than Switzerland and Austria combined, and this is by far the largest land grab in Europe since World War II. Stuart Anderson, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 Wagner assault teams helped Russia execute a final land grab in eastern Ukraine in 2015. Paul Sonne, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Aug. 2023 Wagner assault teams helped Moscow execute a final land grab in eastern Ukraine in 2015. Paul Sonne, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2023 One more thing: UMN’s other exploitation of Native Americans Beyond land grab, the Truth Project also studied the exploitation of Native American children in the name of research. Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 10 July 2023 The super league project, after all, was always a land grab by the world’s biggest clubs, an attempt to siphon off yet more of the money sloshing around soccer and to crystallize their places at the very summit of the game essentially in perpetuity. Rory Smith, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023 Putin was stymied by Ukraine’s soldiers, who had trained hard in the eight years since the first Russian invasion, and by an international community that refused to recognize Russia’s land grab, imposed strict and coordinated sanctions, and provided Ukraine with money, intelligence, and weapons. Heather Cox Richardson, The New Republic, 26 Sep. 2023 All the more reason for Armada and its founders to announce themselves — and tout their big-business credentials — ahead of a competitive land grab. Alex Konrad, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'land grab.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of land grab was in 1860

Dictionary Entries Near land grab

Cite this Entry

“Land grab.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/land%20grab. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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