lost property

English

Noun

lost property (usually uncountable, plural lost properties)

1. (British) A help desk or department in a store, mall, or other such facility where customers who have lost an item can inquire as to whether it has been found and turned in; a lost and found.
   • 1951 October, William B. Stocks, “A Few Miles from Huddersfield”, in Railway Magazine, page 701:

     Lockwood is the junction for the picturesque branch to Meltham, where an old lost-property book recorded the finding of a "bow with two arrows" in a train, in 1873.

   • 2021 September 22, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 940, page 94:

     So far this year, SWR's lost property team has been looking after 19 soft toys (and counting) at London Waterloo station. The operator shared images and details of the toys on social media.

2. (law) Property that is found in such a state as to make it likely that the original owner unintentionally ceased to be in possession of the property, and would be unable to locate the property.

Related terms

• abandoned property
• mislaid property

Translations

lost and found — see lost and found