unclaimed

adjective un·claimed \ ˌən-ˈklāmd \

Updated on: 9 May 2018

Definition of unclaimed

: not claimed; specifically : not called for by an owner or consignee

unclaimed property/goods

See unclaimed defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of unclaimed from the Web

The agency plans to excavate and identify the remains, left exposed by a succession of powerful winter storms, and re-inter unclaimed sets of remains on the mainland.

— brian macquarrie, BostonGlobe.com, "Winter weather helped uncover a dark past on Gallops Island," 3 May 2018
Secretariat The Triple Crown trophy then went unclaimed for 25 years, until Secretariat's unforgettable run in 1973.

— lucas aulbach, The Courier-Journal, "How many horses have won the Triple Crown? A history of the honor," 1 May 2018
More than a million unclaimed New Yorkers with no family or no money are buried there, including many infants.

— CBS News, "Erosion at New York's Hart Island graveyard unearths human bones," 25 Apr. 2018
Budget officials expected to transfer $4.5 million but discovered a total of $7.3 million in unclaimed funds.

— karen farkas, cleveland.com, "Cuyahoga County adds $7.3 million to budget by transferring unclaimed funds," 24 Apr. 2018
Items still unclaimed on the site include signed NFL helmets, a WWII canteen, a trumpet, an intact teacup and a wedding photo from the early 1900s.

— amanda lee myers, The Christian Science Monitor, "Mudslide survivors reconnected with treasured personal belongings months later," 17 Apr. 2018
His ashes, like his mother’s and father’s, went unclaimed.

— jonathan glover, The Seattle Times, "Trail of ashes: A Spokane man’s work to restore identity to the unclaimed dead," 29 Mar. 2018
In March 2017, for example, 10 dummies and a whole lot of luggage from an unclaimed baggage center in Alabama (really) were loaded into an airplane’s fuselage, which was dropped 14 feet onto hard dirt.

— rachel becker, The Verge, "Watch NASA dummies crash test flying and falling vehicles," 8 Apr. 2018
Those who couldn’t afford burials or whose bodies were unclaimed lie in these cemeteries, and historians for decades have worked to identify thousands of Cook County residents who were interred at Dunning.

— nereida moreno, chicagotribune.com, "As workers dig at new CPS school site, they try to avoid Dunning’s unmarked graves," 5 Apr. 2018

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

First Known Use of unclaimed

circa 1616

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up unclaimed? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

unclaimed

Definition of unclaimed

Recent Examples of unclaimed from the Web

First Known Use of unclaimed

Seen and Heard

WORD OF THE DAY

raillery

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

Words at Play

'Ingenious' and 'Ingenuous': More Than a Typo

A Matter-of-Fact Look at 'Deadpan'

9 Words from the Magical Realm

A Field Guide to British Noble Titles

Ask the Editors

Ghost Word

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Literally

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

Word Games

Words Used by Nabokov Quiz

Farm Idioms Quiz

True or False?

Add Diction

'Ingenious' and 'Ingenuous': More Than a Typo

9 Words from the Magical Realm

Words Used by Nabokov Quiz

Trending: Melania Trump Undergoes 'Embolization'

Ghost Word

unclaimed

Definition of unclaimed

Recent Examples of unclaimed from the Web

First Known Use of unclaimed

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

'Ingenious' and 'Ingenuous': More Than a Typo

9 Words from the Magical Realm

Words Used by Nabokov Quiz

Trending: Melania Trump Undergoes 'Embolization'

Ghost Word