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The right of withholding a debt, or of retaining property until a debt due to the person claiming the right be duly paid; a lien. Erskine. Craig. Retention cyst (Med.), a cyst produced by obstruction of a duct leading from a secreting organ and the consequent retention of the natural secretions.

a rogue; knavish tricks; cheating; fraud; dishonest practices. 'Tis no scandal grown, For debt and roguery to quit the town. Dryden.

a certain condition; -- often with in or into; as, to run into evil practices; to run in debt. Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast, to rend my heart with grief and run distracted Addison.

To answer or discharge, as a claim, debt, legal demand, or the like; to give compensation for; to pay off; to requitte; as, to satisfy a claim or an execution.

say fifty thousand dollars; the fox had run, say ten miles. Say, for nonpayment that the debt should double, Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble Shak. It is said, or They say, it is commonly reported; it is rumored; people assert or maintain. -- That is to say, that is; in other words; otherwise.…

le or system. Scaling his present bearing with his past. Shak. To scale, or scale down, a debt, wages, etc., to reduce a debt, etc., according to a fixed ratio or scale. [U.S.]

An account or reckoning; account of dues; bill; hence, indebtedness. He parted well, and paid his score. Shak.

em generally, man by man, according to the scrip. Shak. Bills of exchange can not pay our debts abroad, till scrips of paper can be made current coin. Locke.

with against or from, rarely with of; as, to secure a creditor against loss; to secure a debt by a mortgage. It secures its possessor of eternal happiness. T. Dick.

certain the fulfillment of an obligation, the performance of a contract, the payment of a debt, or the like; surety; pledge. Those who lent him money lent it on no security but his bare word. Macaulay.

possession of by virtue of a warrant or other legal authority; as, the sheriff seized the debtor's goods.

ce the decrees of the court. And now the profits of a benefice are sequestered to pay the debts of ecclesiastics. Blackstone.

A counterclaim; a cross debt or demand; a distinct claim filed or set up by the defendant against the plaintiff's demand.

t; hence, to assume the burden or responsibility of; as, to shoulder blame; to shoulder a debt. As if Hercules Or burly Atlas shouldered up their state. Marston. Right shoulder arms (Mil.), a position in the Manual of Arms which the piece is placed on the right shoulder, with the lock plate up, and the muzzle elevated…

To reduce or extinguish by payment; as, to sink the national debt.

The condition of being solvent; ability to pay all just debts; solvency; as, the solvability of a merchant.

Able to pay one's debts; solvent. [Obs.] Fuller.

Able or sufficient to pay all just debts; as, a solvent merchant; the estate is solvent.

obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified. Chitty. Bouvier. Wharton (Law Dict.). Let specialties be therefore drawn between us. Shak.

a. & n. from Sponge, v. Sponging house (Eng. Law), a bailiff's or other house in which debtors are put before being taken to jail, or until they compromise with their creditors. At these houses extortionate charges are commonly made for food, lodging, etc.