land grab

noun \ ˈlan(d)-ˌgrab \

variants: or less commonly landgrab

|Updated on: 1 Aug 2018

Definition of land grab

: a usually swift acquisition of property (such as land or patent rights) often by fraud or force

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land-grabber

play \ˈlan(d)-ˌgra-bər\ noun

Recent Examples of land grab from the Web

Uber’s investment in Lime is part of a furious land grab in the transportation world.

— daisuke wakabayashi, New York Times, "A Taste of Lime: Uber Invests in an Electric Scooter Company," 9 July 2018
Critics say that turned a defensive measure into a land grab.

— Washington Post, "For Palestinians, Israeli permits a complex tool of control," 1 May 2018
So far the land grab has paid off for the early movers.

— lara korte, WSJ, "As Urban Housing Boom Continues, Developers Reclaim Forgotten Waterfronts," 19 June 2018
The decline of Russian economic growth is something that Russian rulers will eventually need to tackle through measures other than land grabs in the territories of the former Soviet Union.

— chicagotribune.com, "How not to pressure Putin," 29 Mar. 2018
That represents a potential land grab for casinos, but also for online sports betting platforms that have built sophisticated operations overseas.

— brian barrett, WIRED, "The Sports Betting Revolution Will Be Muted Online," 15 May 2018
Hatch and Bishop almost immediately began referring to it as a land grab.

— abe streep, Outside Online, "The Tribes v. Donald Trump," 1 May 2018
Trump’s ascent to power, Russia’s militant land grab, Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing, Germany’s rising neo-fascism, lawlessness in Rwanda, North Korea’s nuclear threats ─ these countries appear to have gone crazy.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Welcome to the New Transnational Paradigm," 12 Apr. 2018
The Crimean land grab also robbed Russia of the chance to act as a balancing force between America and China.

— chicagotribune.com, "How not to pressure Putin," 29 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'land grab.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.