land-hunger
Definition
Noun: A strong desire or craving for the acquisition of land, especially for ownership, cultivation, or settlement. It often implies an intense, sometimes aggressive, drive to obtain territory.
Usage Examples
- (Their intense desire for land motivated their expansion.)
- (The national craving for land caused disputes.)
- (Their strong wish for land was fulfilled.)
Advanced Usage
"to have a land-hunger": to experience an intense desire for land.
- The pioneers had a land-hunger that could not be quenched by small plots. (Their desire for land was insatiable.)
"driven by land-hunger": motivated or compelled by a craving for land.
- Driven by land-hunger, the explorers mapped vast uncharted regions. (Their exploration was motivated by the desire for land.)
Variants and Related Words
Land-hungry (adj): characterized by or showing a strong desire for land.
- The land-hungry colonists eagerly claimed every available acre. (The colonists were intensely eager to obtain land.)
Hunger for land (phrase): a synonymic expression meaning the same as land-hunger.
- His hunger for land made him a successful but ruthless farmer. (His desire for land was strong.)
Synonyms
- Acquisitiveness for land: a strong desire to acquire land.
- Territorial greed: an excessive desire for territory.
- Land greed: an intense, often selfish, desire for land.
Related Idioms
To have an appetite for land: to have a strong desire for land.
- The corporation had an insatiable appetite for land, buying up entire counties. (They had an unending desire for land.)
To be land-hungry: to be intensely eager to obtain land.
- The land-hungry farmer refused to sell even a small portion of his property. (He was very eager to keep and acquire more land.)