distraint

[ dih-streynt ]

/ dɪˈstreɪnt /

noun Law.

the act of distraining; a distress.

Nearby words

Origin of distraint

1720–30; distrain + -t, modeled on constraint, restraint

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for distraint

This morning a letter has arrived, threatening a distraint upon our goods unless a large sum of money be paid by to-morrow.
The Idol of The Blind|Tom Gallon
There was a poor woman who kept a shop, and she was threatened with a distraint for her poor-rate.
Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine|Edwin Waugh
On the house and property a distraint had been levied for moneys due which had not been paid.
Balzac|Frederick Lawton
If he failed to pay his rent, however excessive, his property was rendered liable to distraint and his person to imprisonment.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 4|Various

Why, there is not a police inspector in France who would come at this hour to carry out an investigation—and a distraint to boot!
Messengers of Evil|Pierre Souvestre

British Dictionary definitions for distraint

distraint

/ (dɪˈstreɪnt) /

noun

law the act or process of distraining; distress

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012