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.
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
Distringas, dis-tring′gas, n. an old writ directing a sheriff or other officer to distrain.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
He describes the interior of a cottage like a person sent there to distrain for rent.
From Lectures on the English Poets Delivered at the Surrey Institution by Alfred Rayney Waller
If a tenant is past due his rent, the lord may distrain his beasts which are on the land.
From Our Legal Heritage June 2011 (Sixth) Edition by S. A. Reilly
To distrain a debtor was illegal; any personal assault, however trifling, was sacrilege.
From Ancient Art and Ritual by Jane Ellen Harrison
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.
