Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CLAIM, n.

1. A demand of a right or supposed right; a calling on another for something due, or supposed to be due; as, a claim of wages for services. A claim implies a right or supposed right in the claimant to something which is in another's possession or power. A claim may be made in words, by suit, and by other means. The word is usually preceded by make or lay; to make claim; to lay claim.
2. A right to claim or demand; a title to any debt, privilege, or other thing in possession of another; as, a prince has a claim to the throne. Homer's claims to the first rank among Epic poets have rarely been disputed. – Anon.
3. The thing claimed, or demanded.
4. A loud call. – Spenser. [This original sense of the word is now obsolete.]