distrain.
To squeeze, press, embrace; to constrain, oppress.
Meaning & usage
To squeeze, press, embrace; to constrain, oppress.
To force (someone) to do something by seizing their property.
to distrain a person by his goods and chattels
To seize somebody's property in place of, or to force, payment of a debt.
To pull off, tear apart.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English distreynen, from Old French destraindre, from Latin distringō (“to pull asunder”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringō (“to draw tight, strain”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.