Search Result for "distraint": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim;
- Example: "Originally distress was a landlord's remedy against a tenant for unpaid rents or property damage but now the landlord is given a landlord's lien"
[syn: distress, distraint]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Distraint \Dis*traint"\, n. [OF. destrainte distress, force.]
   (Law)
   The act or proceeding of seizing personal property by
   distress. --Abbott.
   [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

distraint
    n 1: the seizure and holding of property as security for payment
         of a debt or satisfaction of a claim; "Originally distress
         was a landlord's remedy against a tenant for unpaid rents
         or property damage but now the landlord is given a
         landlord's lien" [syn: distress, distraint]