distraint

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

distraint
    n 1: the seizure and holding of property as security for payment
         of a debt or satisfaction of a claim; "Originally distress
         was a landlord's remedy against a tenant for unpaid rents
         or property damage but now the landlord is given a
         landlord's lien" [syn: {distress}, {distraint}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Distraint \Dis*traint"\, n. [OF. destrainte distress, force.]
   (Law)
   The act or proceeding of seizing personal property by
   distress. --Abbott.
   [1913 Webster]