landrush

plural landrushes · alternative land rush

1. historicalAn event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first-come-first-served basis.

   The landrush to all intents and purposes made the cowboy defunct.

   2000, Susan Hayward, Cinema Studies

   2 more examples

   Among other regions which witnessed that land rush were the prairies of Asotin. It is safe to say that the majority of the families that located there (and the same is true of the larger part of Eastern Washington) made their locations in 1876, 1877, 1878 or 1879.

   1918, William Denison Lyman, Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, volume 1

   It never knew a boom and was relatively untouched by the great landrush of the 1850's.

   1967, Roger G Kennedy, Minnesota Houses

   Synonyms: land run

2. figurativelyAny scramble for limited resources.

   In the event that an applicant obtains the domain name in question through the Landrush process described below, the service will be activated[…]

   2001, United States Congress, ICANN, New GTLDS, and the Protection of Intellectual Property