distrain

English

Etymology

From Middle English distreynen, from Old French destraindre, from Latin distringō (“to pull asunder”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringō (“to draw tight, strain”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈstɹeɪn/
Rhymes: -eɪn
Hyphenation: dis‧train

Verb

distrain (third-person singular simple present distrains, present participle distraining, simple past and past participle distrained)

(obsolete) To squeeze, press, embrace; to constrain, oppress.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
  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.
(law, transitive, obsolete) To force (someone) to do something by seizing their property.
to distrain a person by his goods and chattels
(law, intransitive) To seize somebody's property in place of, or to force, payment of a debt.
(obsolete) To pull off, tear apart.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
  For that same net so cunningly was wound, / That neither guile, nor force might it distraine.

Synonyms

(to seize somebody's property in place of, or to force payment of a debt) distress

Derived terms

distrainable
distrainee
distrainer
distrainment
distrainor
distraint

Translations

To squeeze

To force (someone) to do something by seizing their property

Polish: anektować (pl) impf or pf, zaanektować (pl) pf

To seize somebody's property in place of payment of a debt

Bulgarian: налагам запор (nalagam zapor)
German: pfänden (de)
Hungarian: lefoglal (hu), zálogol, zár alá vesz, végrehajt (hu)

To pull off, tear apart