distrain
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to constrain by seizing and holding goods, etc., in pledge for rent, damages, etc., or in order to obtain satisfaction of a claim.
-
to levy a distress upon.
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of distrain
1250–1300; Middle English distreinen < Anglo-French, Old French destreindre < Latin distringere to stretch out, equivalent to di- di- 2 + stringere to draw tight; see strain 1
Vocabulary lists containing distrain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Both give the tenant a permanent interest, being leases forever, reserving annual rent, with the right to distrain and covenants of re-entry.
From The Chainbearer Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts by Cooper, James Fenimore
No bloody agint here we see, Ready to rack, distrain, and saze us; Whatever we ax, we have it free, And take at hand, whatever plaze us.
From Confessions Of Con Cregan An Irish Gil Blas by Lever, Charles James
No more their rent-days they may keep, nor agents harsh distrain, The widow need no longer weep, for over is their reign.
From The Reminiscences of an Irish Land Agent by Gordon, Home, Sir, Bart.
At last I lost patience, and determined to distrain.
From Ireland as It Is And as It Would be Under Home Rule by Buckley, Robert John
But the answer was returned that "he had nothing whereon to distrain."
From Shakespeare's Family by Stopes, C. C. (Charlotte Carmichael)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
