claim

noun

1. a : a demand for something (as money) due or believed to be due; specifically : a demand for a benefit (as under the workers' compensation law) or contractual payment (as under an insurance policy) : a demand for a benefit (as under the workers' compensation law) or contractual payment (as under an insurance policy)

   b : cause of action 1 a plaintiff stating a claim for negligence — see also res judicata

   Note: A cause of action may encompass more than one claim as the term is used in sense 3a. Claim is often used to mean cause of action, however, especially in modern federal practice.

2. : a title to something (as a debt or privilege) in the possession of another assigned her claim to the proceeds

3. a : a right to seek a judicial remedy arising from a wrong or injury suffered a plaintiff who has been injured in an accident has…one claim for a broken arm, another for a ruptured spleen, and so forth —J. H. Friedenthal et al. also : the formal assertion of such a right bringing a claim in the district court : the formal assertion of such a right bringing a claim in the district court

   b : cause of action 1 a plaintiff stating a claim for negligence — see also res judicata

   Note: A cause of action may encompass more than one claim as the term is used in sense 3a. Claim is often used to mean cause of action, however, especially in modern federal practice.

   c : a right to payment or to an equitable remedy as set forth in the Bankruptcy Code — see also proof of claim

4. : a formal assertion made by an applicant for a patent of the novelty and patentability of an invention with a description of the invention and its purpose