(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you say that someone ~s that something is true, you mean they say that it is true but you are not sure whether or not they are telling the truth.
He ~ed that it was all a conspiracy against him...
A man ~ing to be a journalist threatened to reveal details about her private life...
‘I had never received one single complaint against me,’ ~ed the humiliated doctor...
He ~s a 70 to 80 per cent success rate.
= maintain
VERB: V that, V to-inf, V with quote, V n
2.
A ~ is something which someone says which they cannot prove and which may be false.
He repeated his ~ that the people of Trinidad and Tobago backed his action...
He rejected ~s that he had affairs with six women.
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N that
3.
If you say that someone ~s responsibility or credit for something, you mean they say that they are responsible for it, but you are not sure whether or not they are telling the truth.
An underground organisation has ~ed responsibility for the bomb explosion...
VERB: V n
4.
If you ~ something, you try to get it because you think you have a right to it.
Now they are returning to ~ what was theirs.
VERB: V n
5.
A ~ is a demand for something that you think you have a right to.
Rival ~s to Macedonian territory caused conflict in the Balkans.
N-COUNT: oft N to n
6.
If someone ~s a record, title, or prize, they gain or win it. (JOURNALISM)
Zhuang ~ed the record in 54.64 seconds...
VERB: V n
7.
If you have a ~ on someone or their attention, you have the right to demand things from them or to demand their attention.
She’d no ~s on him now...
He was surrounded by people, all with ~s on his attention.
N-COUNT: N on n
8.
If something or someone ~s your attention, they need you to spend your time and effort on them.
There is already a long list of people ~ing her attention.
VERB: V n
9.
If you ~ money from the government, an insurance company, or another organization, you officially apply to them for it, because you think you are entitled to it according to their rules.
Some 25 per cent of the people who are entitled to ~ State benefits do not do so...
John had taken out redundancy insurance but when he tried to ~, he was refused payment...
They intend to ~ for damages against the three doctors.
VERB: V n, V, V for n
•
Claim is also a noun.
...the office which has been dealing with their ~ for benefit...
Last time we made a ~ on our insurance they paid up really quickly.
N-COUNT: oft N for n
10.
If you ~ money or other benefits from your employers, you demand them because you think you deserve or need them.
The union ~ed a pay rise worth four times the rate of inflation.
VERB: V n
•
Claim is also a noun.
They are making substantial ~s for improved working conditions...
Electricity workers have voted for industrial action in pursuit of a pay ~.
N-COUNT: oft N for n
11.
If you say that a war, disease, or accident ~s someone’s life, you mean that they are killed in it or by it. (FORMAL)
Heart disease is the biggest killer, ~ing 180,000 lives a year.
VERB: V n
12.
see also no ~s
13.
Someone’s ~ to fame is something quite important or interesting that they have done or that is connected with them.
Barbara Follett’s greatest ~ to fame is that she taught Labour MPs how to look good on television.
PHRASE: ~ inflects, oft poss PHR
14.
If you lay ~ to something you do not have, you say that it belongs to you. (FORMAL)
Five Asian countries lay ~ to the islands.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
15.
to stake a ~: see stake