Distrain
//dɪˈstɹeɪn// verb
verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To squeeze, press, embrace; to constrain, oppress. obsolete
"But when he heard her answeres loth, he knew / Some secret sorrow did her heart distraine […]"
- 2 legally take something in place of a debt payment wordnet
- 3 To force (someone) to do something by seizing their property. obsolete, transitive
"to distrain a person by his goods and chattels"
- 4 confiscate by distress wordnet
- 5 To seize somebody's property in place of, or to force, payment of a debt. intransitive
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- 6 levy a distress on wordnet
- 7 To pull off, tear apart. obsolete
"For that same net so cunningly was wound, / That neither guile, nor force might it distraine."
Example
More examples"But when he heard her answeres loth, he knew / Some secret sorrow did her heart distraine […]"
Etymology
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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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.