expropriate

1 to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right <dissidents were shot, and their lands expropriated under his regime> Synonyms arrogate, commandeer, convert, appropriate, pirate, preempt, press, seize, take over, usurpRelated Words annex, attach, claim, confiscate, impound, repossess, sequester; assume, collar, grab, grasp, snatch, steal, wrench, wrest; despoil, loot, pillage; encroach, infringe, invade, occupy, preoccupy, trespass; embezzle, misapply, misappropriate, misuse, peculate

2 to end the occupancy or possession of <the state will have to expropriate scores of homeowners in order to build the new road> Synonyms divest, dispossess, oustRelated Words deforce, evict; disfurnish, strip; bereave, deprive, disinherit; annex, appropriate, commandeer, impound, seize, take over, usurp

3 to take ownership or control of (something) by right of one's authority <plans by the city to expropriate entire blocks of houses in order to bulldoze them for expansion of the airport> Synonyms attach, confiscate, sequesterRelated Words garnishee; appropriate, arrogate, preempt, usurp; commandeer, seize, take overNear Antonyms cede, deliver, forfeit, give up, hand over, release, relinquish, render, surrender, turn over, yield