Search the Dictionary

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.

ry; to attempt. It is our duty to endeavor the recovery of these beneficial subjects. Ld. Chatham. To endeavor one's self, to exert one's self strenuously to the fulfillment of a duty. [Obs.] "A just man that endeavoreth himself to leave all wickedness." Latimer.

, whose state robe, lined with ermine, is emblematical of purity and honor without stain. Chatham.

Left untilled or unsowed after plowing; uncultivated; as, fallow ground. Fallow chat, Fallow finch (Zoöl.), a small European bird, the wheatear (Saxicola ænanthe). See Wheatear.

covered 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.

t 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. Wh…

a 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 retardat…

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…

se bird (Zoöl.), the European linnet; -- called also gorse hatcher. [Prov. Eng.] -- Gorse chat (Zoöl.), the winchat. -- Gorse duck, the corncrake; -- called also grass drake, land drake, and corn drake.

One who runs house to house, tattling and telling news; an idle tattler. The common chat of gossips when they meet. Dryden.

e cellar. Milton. Well-seasoned bowls the gossip's spirits raise, Who, while she guzzles, chats the doctor's praise. Roscommon. To fat the guzzling hogs with floods of whey. Gay.

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

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. --…

To procure (any chattel or estate) from another person, for temporary use, for a compensation or equivalent; to purchase the use or enjoyment of for a limited time; as, to hire a farm for a year; to hire money.

ining a hollow or recess to receive the ends of the gates. -- Hollow root. (Bot.) See Moschatel. -- Hollow square. See Square. -- Hollow ware, hollow vessels; -- a trade name for cast-iron kitchen utensils, earthenware, etc.