appropriation (n.)

  1. money set aside (as by a legislature) for a specific purpose

  2. incorporation by joining or uniting

    [ Syn: annexation ]

  3. a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner; the necessary funds were obtained by the government's appropriation of the company's operating unit; a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is dishonest'

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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