distraint

9.9

The legal taking of someone's property to get money they owe

noun
/dɪˈstreɪnt/

: embargo

After months of missed payments, the company faced distraint, resulting in the removal of equipment from their office.

Examples

The court allowed distraint to ensure the payment of overdue bills from the business.
Clause 61 of Magna Carta, the "security clause," gave a committee of barons the right to apply "distraint" to the King and seize his lands and castles to make him change his policies.

Blog text (5)
The landlord enforced distraint on the tenant's possessions due to unpaid rent.

Synonyms

seizure

vsdistraint

Formal

71 6.1

Taking property by force or by a court order

is the specific legal taking to recover unpaid rent not all takings

distress

vsdistraint

53 9.0

Taking and holding a person's property to make them pay a debt

is used especially to recover unpaid rent rather than any debt

dispossession

vsdistraint

Specialized

3 8.2

A legal loss of land, property or other things someone owns

focuses on seizing to obtain money owed especially rent not general removal

sequestration

vsdistraint

Formal

1 9.4

Seizing and holding property until a debt is paid

is mainly used for unpaid rent rather than general holding

distrainment

vsdistraint

9.9

To take a person's property by legal order to make them pay a debt

has identical meaning but is an alternate form

Antonyms

to release

Formal

69 2.6

To give up a right, claim, or ownership of something

Surface Forms

distraint singular

distraints plural

Etymology

Distraint comes from an old root stringere meaning 'to draw tight' and the part dis- meaning 'apart', and it is related to the English word restrain. So, distraint means taking or holding someone's property to force them to pay.