Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (v. t.) To distress; to take possession as security for nonpayment; as, to distrain goods for rent.

2. (v. t.) To press heavily upon; to bear down upon with violence; hence, to constrain or compel; to bind; to distress, torment, or afflict.

3. (v. t.) To rend; to tear.

4. (v. t.) To subject to distress; to coerce; as, to distrain a person by his goods and chattels.

5. (v. i.) To levy a distress.