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
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.
Yet while there is now a land grab for users between major AI players, questions still linger over how Google will eventually monetize its AI services. Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2025 Stubb also seems to have sensed how to communicate to Trump the extent of Putin’s prospective land grab of Ukraine’s territory. Andrea Mitchell, NBC news, 19 Aug. 2025 This was the correct policy: As much as the war in Ukraine is a humanitarian tragedy and a 21st century land grab, the country itself is not so important to U.S. national security interests as to warrant a direct conflict between the United States and Russia, the world’s two largest nuclear powers. Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025 Hill could discuss if Putin’s land grab attempts will succeed as ceasefire discussions excel and may also explain why Trump decided against secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners amid a bipartisan push from lawmakers in Congress. Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 16 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for land grab

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

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

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Cite this Entry

“Land grab.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/land%20grab. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.

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