distrain
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
If a landlord distrain for rent, he can find no bidders for the crops or cattle; how much more difficult will it be for him to obtain bidders for land?
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 343, May 1844 by Various
I told owd Titus as he mun pay us twenty pun' on Monday morning certain, or us should distrain.
From Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett
At last I lost patience, and determined to distrain.
From Ireland as It Is And as It Would be Under Home Rule by Robert John Buckley
When the mayor ordered the sheriffs to distrain they refused on the plea that it was the mayor's business, not theirs.
From London and the Kingdom - Volume II by Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) Sharpe
I won't ask a rack rent, I promise you, and I suppose I could distrain on these tea things and the kettle if it were not paid up.
From Bosom Friends A Seaside Story by Angela Brazil
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.
