Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. (context: US) The right of a government over the private lands within its jurisdiction. Usually invoked to compel land owners to sell their property in preparation for a major construction project such as a freeway.
WordNet
n. the right of the state to take private property for public use; the Fifth Amendment that was added to the Constitution of the United States requires that just compensation be made
Wikipedia
Eminent domain ( United States, the Philippines), compulsory purchase ( United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland), resumption (Hong Kong), resumption/compulsory acquisition ( Australia), or expropriation ( France, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, Brazil, Portugal) is the power of a state or a national government to take private property for public use. However, it can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized to exercise the functions of public character.
The property may be taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties, who will devote it to public or civic use or, in some cases, to economic development. The most common uses of property taken by eminent domain are for government buildings and other facilities, public utilities, highways and railroads, or for public safety. Some jurisdictions require that the acquirer make an offer to purchase the subject property, before resorting to the use of eminent domain.
Eminent Domain is a film released in 1990. It stars Donald Sutherland and Anne Archer and is directed by John Irvin.
The film is based on the true story of a senior member of the Polish Politburo (played by Donald Sutherland) and his wife (played by Anne Archer) who both become banished from their own business. While they both struggle to figure out why, things start to take a turn when the wife is sent to a mental asylum and their 15-year-old daughter is kidnapped.
"Eminent Domain" is the thirty-second episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on June 30, 2013. The episode is written by David Wiener and is directed by Keith Gordon. In the episode, Detective Holder ( Joel Kinnaman) and Sarah Linden ( Mireille Enos) revisit the Seward case in hopes of finding a connection with the current one. Bullet ( Bex Taylor-Klaus) takes Danette Leeds ( Amy Seimetz) to Kallie's favorite hangouts. Seward ( Peter Sarsgaard) asks to speak to his imprisoned father (Duncan Fraser).
"Eminent Domain" is the second episode of the third season of the American television drama series Hell on Wheels, which aired on August 10, 2013 on AMC. The twenty-second episode of the series is written by showrunner John Wirth and directed by Adam Davidson. In the episode, the railroad progress is interrupted by a family of Mormons in its path. When a family member kills Dick Barlow ( Matthew Glave), the railroad's chief engineer, Cullen Bohannon ( Anson Mount) seeks justice. Louise Ellison ( Jennifer Ferrin), a New-York Tribune reporter, arrives in town to witness it all.
Usage examples of "eminent domain".
In the shires and colossal parishes to which they belonged, the great planters therefore enjoyed a kind of eminent domain.
But you have to look quick, because it's going, going to eminent domain and General Motors' golden ring in the nose of City Hall, its churches knocked to rubble and kindling, the bricks that paved its medieval alleys piled in heaps for the scavengers.
What does 'eminent domain' mean to someone who's lived in the frigging house for twenty years?
Why can't we say highway robbery is highway robbery, instead of calling it eminent domain?
I went over the whole case with him, with care, exactly as Morton had spelled it out to me: Gateway Corp's intervention, eminent domain, the problem of complying with a court order when your compliance doesn't get to the people it affects until a month and a half after they've gone and done whatever they were going to do, the opportunity for a negotiated settlement.
But I have been reading the real estate records of the eminent domain proceedings.
The government, of course, could exercise the right of eminent domain and start condemnation action, but it would rather not do that.