Meaning & use
annex
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To take land or territory and make it part of your own country or area, often by force.
Grammar: Takes an object: annex a region.
Patterns
- annex something
- annex something to something
The empire annexed the small island in 1890.
Several countries refused to recognize the annexed region.
The city annexed nearby suburbs to expand its tax base.
verbtransitiveformal
To attach something smaller to something larger, such as a document or a section.
Grammar: Formal; often in legal writing: annex a schedule.
Patterns
- annex something to something
The lawyer annexed the list of witnesses to the contract.
Please annex the receipts to your report.
The committee annexed a new clause to the treaty.
verbtransitivefigurativehumorous
To take something for yourself without much right to it.
Grammar: Figurative and informal: annex the best chair.
Patterns
- annex something for yourself
He annexed the best seat on the sofa.
My brother annexed my room as his study.
She quietly annexed the last cookie.
nouncountableAmerican
A building added to or placed near a larger main building, giving extra space.
Grammar: Chiefly American; British English often spells it annexe.
Patterns
- an annex to something
- in the annex
The library built an annex to hold its new archive.
Classes were held in the annex behind the school.
The hotel's annex has extra guest rooms.
Word forms
| third person singular | annexes |
|---|---|
| past tense | annexed |
| past participle | annexed |
| -ing form | annexing |
| plural | annexes |
Common combinations
- annex a territory
- The government annexed the territory after the war.
- forcibly annex
- The country forcibly annexed its neighbor's land.
- annex to a document
- A chart was annexed to the document.
- a new annex
- The museum opened a new annex last year.
- illegally annexed
- The illegally annexed region is still disputed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seize
- Seize means taking something quickly or by force, but it does not require officially adding the land to your own.
- occupy
- Occupy means holding land with military force, while annex means formally making it part of your country.
- absorb
- Absorb is gentler and describes taking something into a bigger whole, often peacefully.
- incorporate
- Incorporate is neutral and means including something as part of a whole, with no suggestion of force.
Opposites
Word family
- annexation noun
- the act of taking over territory
- annexed adjective
- taken over and added to a bigger area
- annexe noun
- the British spelling of annex for a building
- annexationist noun
- a person who supports annexation
Commonly confused: annex or annex?
annex vs annex
Annex is stressed on the second syllable as a verb, and as a noun it is often stressed on the first syllable: the annex building.
Practice
The country ___ the border region after the war, and other nations protested.
Choose one answer.
To annex is to take territory and make it part of your own country, which explains the protests. Annulled and announced do not fit the object, and answered is a different action.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “annex”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.