Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A claim upon a part of another's property that arises because of an unpaid debt related to that property and that operates as an encumbrance on the property until the debt is satisfied.
  • noun The right to hold another's property as security for a debt owed.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In law: The right of a person having possession of the property of another to retain it until some charge upon it or some demand due him is satisfied; the right to enforce a charge upon a specific thing by withholding possession from the owner until the charge is satisfied.
  • noun Hence— A right of a creditor to have a debt or charge satisfied by legal proceedings out of specific property or its proceeds, irrespective of having possession.
  • noun Hence A claim; occasion of demand; right to compensation.
  • noun The spleen.
  • noun An obsolete or archaic past participle of lie.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • p. p. of lie. See lain.
  • noun (Law) A legal claim; a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty; a right in one to control or hold and retain the property of another until some claim of the former is paid or satisfied.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete A tendon.
  • noun law A legal claim; a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty.
  • verb biblical, archaic Alternative form of lain.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a large dark-red oval organ on the left side of the body between the stomach and the diaphragm; produces cells involved in immune responses
  • noun the right to take another's property if an obligation is not discharged

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, tie, bond, from Old French, constraint, from Latin ligāmen, bond, from ligāre, to bind; see leig- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen ("a bond"), from ligō ("tie, bind").

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Examples

  • Before the springing lien is triggered, the new bondholders 'claims would rank behind those of secured debtholders in the event that the company had to file for bankruptcy protection.

    Loose Covenants Creep Back In Michael Aneiro 2010

  • Not to mention embarrassed if the lien is publicized.

    Cheeseburger Gothic » I can haz Xbox? 2010

  • Top officials of major banks generally were reluctant to talk on the record about Cole's ideas, but Dan Frahm, a Bank of America spokesman, said his company's "approach has been not to let second lien issues prevent us from modifying" mortgages, including "making principal reductions, even when the second lien is owned by a third-party investor and has not been modified."

    Disputed advice: Making payments on 2nd loan can discourage bank from helping on the first one Kenneth R. Harney 2010

  • The springing lien is just one component of what Mr. Dill called a "weak package" of bondholder protections, known as covenants, for the Momentive note issue, with "liberally crafted features typical of other private-equity sponsored transactions."

    Loose Covenants Creep Back In Michael Aneiro 2010

  • In this scenario, the lender takes a haircut because giving them 90 or 95 percent of the value of the lien is more than they would get in an REO sale and they know this and would take it.

    Matthew Yglesias » Ways to Help 2008

  • As it takes a couple of weeks for the papers to be processed he was given our usual temporary paper in lien of the actual FM3s.

    Where inside Sonora to get a Car Permit 2007

  • As it takes a couple of weeks for the papers to be processed he was given our usual temporary paper in lien of the actual FM3s.

    Where inside Sonora to get a Car Permit 2007

  • As it takes a couple of weeks for the papers to be processed he was given our usual temporary paper in lien of the actual FM3s.

    Where inside Sonora to get a Car Permit 2007

  • As it takes a couple of weeks for the papers to be processed he was given our usual temporary paper in lien of the actual FM3s.

    Where inside Sonora to get a Car Permit 2007

  • As it takes a couple of weeks for the papers to be processed he was given our usual temporary paper in lien of the actual FM3s.

    Where inside Sonora to get a Car Permit 2007

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