Distrain

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪˈstɹeɪn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn

Origin

From Old French destraindre, from Latin distringere, from dis- ("apart") + stringere ("to draw tight, strain").

Full definition of distrain

Verb

1. (obsolete) To squeeze, press, embrace; to constrain, oppress.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VII:But when he heard her answeres loth, he knew
  Some secret sorrow did her heart distraine ....
• 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, xii:Thus spake the Prince, and gently 'gan distrain
• Now him, now her, between his friendly arms.
2. (legal, transitive, obsolete) To force (someone) to do something by seizing their property.
3. (legal, intransitive) To seize somebody's property in place of, or to force, payment of a debt.to distrain a person by his goods and chattels
4. (obsolete) To pull off, tear apart.
• Spenser Faerie Queene, II.xii:For that same net so cunningly was wound,
  That neither guile, nor force might it distraine.

Synonyms

• distress

Derived terms

• distrainable
• distrainee
• distrainer
• distrainment
• distrainor
• distraint