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a form of action for the recovery of a personal chattel wrongfully detained. Writ of detinue (Law), one that lies against him who wrongfully detains goods or chattels delivered to him, or in possession, to recover the thing itself, or its value and damages, from the detainer. It is now in a great measure superseded by…

To give by will; -- used of real estate; formerly, also, of chattels.

To break to pieces; to shatter. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

To subject to distress; to coerce; as, to distrain a person by his goods and chattels.

One who distrains; the party distraining goods or chattels. Blackstone.

The act of distraining; the taking of a personal chattel out of the possession of a wrongdoer, by way of pledge for redress of an injury, or for the performance of a duty, as for nonpayment of rent or taxes, or for injury done by cattle, etc.

A writ commanding the sheriff to distrain a person by his goods or chattels, to compel a compliance with something required of him.

Shattered; infirm. "A laurel grew, doddered with age." Dryden.

overed in debt or damages, commanding the sheriff that he cause to be made of the goods, chattels, or real estate of the defendant, the sum claimed. Blackstone. Cowell.

of them. This term is, however, quite frequently used in the peculiar sense of personal chattels annexed to lands and tenements, but removable by the person annexing them, or his personal representatives. In this latter sense, the same things may be fixtures under some circumstances, and not fixtures under others. Wha…

handbill. -- Fly snapper (Zoöl.), an American bird (Phainopepla nitens), allied to the chatterers and shrikes. The male is glossy blue-black; the female brownish gray. -- Fly wheel (Mach.), a heavy wheel attached to machinery to equalize the movement (opposing any sudden acceleration by its inertia and any retardati…

The mouth; hence, idle prate; chatter; unmeaning talk; loquaciousness. [Colloq.] Gift of gab, facility of expression. [Colloq.]

Wares; commodities; chattels; -- formerly used in the singular in a collective sense. In law, a comprehensive name for almost all personal property as distinguished from land or real property. Wharton. He hath made us spend much good. Chaucer. Thy lands and goods Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate Unto the state of…

A dealer in small wares, as tapes, pins, needles, and thread; also, a hatter. [Obs.] The haberdasher heapeth wealth by hats. Gascoigne.

Also, a person of thing that smites or shatters; as, St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies. He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been the "massive iron hammers" of the whole earth. J. H. Newman. Atmospheric hammer, a dead-stroke hammer in which the spring is formed by confined air. -- Drop hammer, Face ha…

Professional cant; the chatter of conjurers to divert attention from their tricks; hence, jugglery. [Colloq.]

sing. pres. of Hote to be called. Cf. Hatte. [Obs.] "That one hat abstinence." Piers Plowman.

To maunder; to talk foolishly; to chatter. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Any furniture, movable, or personal chattel, which by law or special custom descends to the heir along with the inheritance; any piece of personal property that has been in a family for several generations. Woe to him whose daring hand profanes The honored heirlooms of his ancestors. Moir.

Formerly, a payment or tribute of arms or military accouterments, or the best beast, or chattel, due to the lord on the death of a tenant; in modern use, a customary tribute of goods or chattels to the lord of the fee, paid on the decease of a tenant. Blackstone. Bouvier. Heriot custom, a heriot depending on usage. --…