Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Distraint \Dis*traint"\, n. [OF. destrainte distress, force.]
   (Law)
   The act or proceeding of seizing personal property by
   distress. --Abbott.

Source : WordNet®

distraint
     n : the seizure and holding of property as security for payment
         of a debt or satisfaction of a claim; "Originally
         distress was a landloard's remedy against a tenant for
         unpaid rents or property damage but now the landlord is
         given a landlord's lien" [syn: {distress}]