expropriating

verb

present participle of expropriate
1
as in seizing
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

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2
as in evicting
to end the occupancy or possession of the state will have to expropriate scores of homeowners in order to build the new road

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3
as in confiscating
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of expropriating In his view, the administration is effectively expropriating the decision-making power of owners and handing it to the state. — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 8 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expropriating
  1. seizing
  2. evicting
  3. confiscating
  4. stealing
  5. dispossessing
  6. usurping
  7. depriving
  8. grabbing
Verb
  • The Dodgers weren’t actually bankrupt at the time, but then owner Frank McCourt used the process to keep MLB from seizing the team.
    — Barry M. Bloom, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Withers, 28, has lately been seizing every opportunity in his path, but the Amazon MGM Studios rom-com represents a chance to show a lighter side.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of seizing
Verb
  • Now that same board is evicting Aust and nearly 100 other patients from the Silverado Beach Cities Memory Care Community.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • The ordinance would require landlords to provide a valid reason before evicting a tenant or declining to renew their lease.
    — Megan De Mar, CBS News, 29 June 2026
Definition of evicting
Verb
  • While appearing to regulate I-9 compliance, its core purpose is to prevent employers from coercing or intimidating vulnerable workers by confiscating or retaining their IDs.
    — Alonzo Martinez, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • Romanian authorities indicted the Tate brothers on the charges in June 2023, placing them on house arrest and confiscating several of their assets.
    — Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 19 July 2026
Definition of confiscating
Verb
  • The film revolves around a crew of motorcycle thieves who begin stealing priceless antiquities around the world.
    — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The ticket Lockhart is accused of stealing had a prize value of $2,600, per the affidavit.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of stealing
Verb
  • Mandi was in control of the ball, going nowhere fast, and there was little prospect of dispossessing him from Messi’s position.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 17 June 2026
  • How a state comes to control another land and its people, sometimes slowly dispossessing the natives of their lands, sometimes laying waste to them, sometimes committing genocide.
    — Philip Metres August 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
Definition of dispossessing
Verb
  • Eggers made his name by deriding, and then usurping, the literary establishment, in the process defying the tired binary of pure artist versus sellout.
    — Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026
  • Beulah's spurned heir Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) calls up the mysterious Mariana (Raoul Max Trujillo) to help with his many problems, which include his ranch-usurping half-brother Rob-Will and those Duttons from Montana.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Definition of usurping
Verb
  • For years, when playgrounds and parks became drug hot spots, the city reacted by fencing them off, depriving families of access.
    — Michael Powell, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
  • So, the team tested if depriving mole-rats of smell would purge the xenophobia out of them.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 21 July 2026
Definition of depriving
Verb
  • Because of the abyss that comes into play in the mid-30s at RB, grabbing a RB (or two) in the first three tiers is crucial.
    — Jake Ciely, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • The 35-year-old actor is often photographed doing deeply ordinary things around Manhattan—grabbing coffee, running errands, walking to wherever—wearing outfits that shouldn’t always work but somehow do.
    — Sam Reed, Glamour, 30 July 2026
Definition of grabbing

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Cite this Entry

“Expropriating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expropriating. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on expropriating

Nglish: Translation of expropriating for Spanish Speakers

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