taken out of the possession of another and transferred to your own use often without permission; "the expropriated land was developed into a public playground
If a government or other authority expropriates someone's property, they take it away from them for public use. The Bolsheviks expropriated the property of the landowners. + expropriation expropriations ex·pro·pria·tion the expropriation of property Ownership is not clear because of expropriations in the Nazi era