- territory
- noun1 area of land that belongs to one country, etc.ADJECTIVE▪ vast▪ new▪
The explorers set off to conquer new territories.
▪ former▪former French territories
▪ neighbouring/neighboring, surrounding▪ home, national▪ alien, foreign, overseas▪ enemy, hostile▪ friendly▪ neutral▪ colonial, dependent (esp. BrE), trust (esp. BrE)▪a UN trust territory administered by New Zealand
▪ sovereign▪Troops were stationed on sovereign German territory.
▪ annexed, conquered, lost, occupied▪a town in British-occupied territory
▪ contested, disputed▪ familiar, home (both figurative)▪The writer is back on home territory with his latest novel.
▪ uncharted, unexplored, unfamiliar, unknown, virgin (all often figurative)▪ dangerous (often figurative)VERB + TERRITORY▪ hold▪ annex, capture, conquer, invade, occupy, recapture, take▪ control, govern, rule▪The territory had been controlled by Azerbaijan for many years.
▪ cede, surrender▪ lose▪ enter, stray into▪The soldiers strayed into hostile territory.
▪ leave▪ settle▪The territory was never densely settled.
▪ stake out (often figurative)▪The parties have been staking out their territory on education.
▪ chart, explore, map out (all often figurative)▪Tired of writing detective novels, she began to explore new territory.
▪ cover (often figurative)▪Many books have covered this territory before.
2 of an animalADJECTIVE▪ breeding, nestingVERB + TERRITORY▪ defend, patrol, protect▪ establish, mark, mark out▪The male establishes a territory and attracts a female.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.