A phrase meaning that whoever finds something is entitled to keep it. For example, Someone left a dollar bill in this rented car—finders, keepers. This expression alludes to an ancient Roman law to that effect and has been stated in numerous different ways over the centuries.

At common law, a person who found lost personal property could keep it until and unless the original owner comes forward. This rule applied to people who discovered lost property in public areas, as well as to people who discovered lost property on their property.

More Drama from Channel 5 A holiday romance turns into a waking nightmare in this four-part thriller.

A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far—a book about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes.