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Glite Dictionary
to distrain

to distrain

9.9
To legally take someone's property to get unpaid rent or debt
  • verb
  • /dɪˈstreɪn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : embargar
  • If the company fails to pay its debts, creditors may distrain upon its assets.

Examples

  • The landlord can distrain the tenant's belongings for unpaid rent.

  • The landlord threatened to distrain the tenant's goods unless the overdue rent was paid.

  • Historically, landlords had the right to distrain for unpaid rent without a court order.

  • They distrained his car due to unpaid parking tickets.

  • The landlord had to distrain the tenant's belongings to recover unpaid rent.

  • To settle the debt, the bank decided to distrain the borrower's property.

  • If you fail to pay your bills, the company may distrain your assets.

Synonyms

to seize
vsto distrain
  • Formal
156 4.6

To take something using legal power, often for a short time

is used to take property specifically to recover unpaid rent or debt
to repossess
vsto distrain
  • Specialized
26 5.8

To take back a house or car when someone stops paying

focuses on seizing property to secure unpaid rent or debt
to dispossess
vsto distrain
11 8.4

To take away someone's land or home so they no longer own it

is a legal seizure done to get money owed, not general removal
to sequester
vsto distrain
  • Formal
3 8.6

To take official control of property for a time by court order

is aimed at securing payment rather than simply holding property under court order

Antonyms

to return
∞ 1.0

Give something back to its owner or the place it came from

release
279 1.8

An act of letting someone or something go free from being held

Surface Forms

distrain infinitive
distrained past
distrained past participle
distraining present participle
distrains third person singular

Morphology

distrain = strain (opaque) = dis + strain

Although the verb is historically analyzable as dis- + a root like 'strain', the modern legal sense 'to seize property' is specialized and not inferable from the common meaning of 'strain' for most learners.

Etymology

Distrain comes from old words that meant 'to bind' or 'to tighten', the same idea you see in string and restrain. So, to distrain someone is to put legal pressure on them by taking their property to make them pay.