From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishannexan‧nex /əˈneks $ əˈneks, ˈæneks/ verb [transitive] BEAT/DEFEATto take control of a country or area next to your own, especially by using force The Baltic republics were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. —annexation /ˌænekˈseɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
annex• Planning Director Jerry Flannery is attempting to annex 1260 acres of vacant land next to the city.• It may be that as the town of Mallia grew, it outgrew its local territory and annexed the adjacent Lasithi territory.• In 1783 she proceeded to annex the nominally independent Crimea and to construct a large Black Sea fleet.• Athens annexed their lands and settled on them 4,000 Athenians as small-holders.• Its troops have fought in Bosnia, and in practice Western Hercegovina is annexed to it.• Zululand was annexed to Natal in 1897.Origin annex (1300-1400) Old French annexer, from Latin annectere, from ad- “to” + nectere ( → NEXUS) 