distractful 
distractfult (dis-trakt'fiil), a. [< distract + -ful, 
irreg. suffixed to verb or adj.] Distracting. 
Arise, kneel not to me, 
But thanke thy sisters, they apparell'd thee 
In that distractful shape. 
Hcyirooit, Love's Mistress, sig. V, J>. 
distractible (dis-trak'ti-bl), . [< distract + 
-'Wc.] Capable of being distracted or drawn 
away. 
distractile (dis-trak'til), . [< distract + -He.] 
In hot., widely separated: applied by Richard 
to anthers in which the cells are separated by 
a very long and narrow connective, as in the 
genus Salria. 
distraction (dis-trak'shon), . [< ME. distrac- 
tioun (but used appar. in sense of detraction), < 
OF. distraction, F. distraction = Sp. distraccion 
= Pg. distracqao = It. distrasione = D. distrac- 
tie = Dan. Sw. distraktion, < L. distractio(n-), 
a pulling asunder, parting, dissension, < distra- 
here, pp. distractiis, pull asunder: see distract.] 
If. The act of drawing or the state of being 
drawn apart; separation. 
Thou who wert uncapable of distraction from him, with 
whom thou wert one, would'st yet so much act man as to 
retyre, for the opportunity of prayer. 
JSp. Hall, The Walk upon the Waters. 
2. A drawing away of the mind from one point 
or course to another or others; diversion of 
thought or feeling into a different channel or 
toward different objects. 
That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. 
1 Cor. vii. 85. 
She listened to all that was said, and had never the least 
distraction or absence of thought. Swift, Death of Stella. 
Distraction is the removal of our attention from a mat- 
ter with which we are engaged, and our bestowal of it on 
another which crosses us. Sir W. Hamilton. 
3. A drawing of the mind in different direc- 
tions ; mental confusion arising from diverse 
or opposing considerations ; perplexity ; be- 
wilderment: as, the distraction caused by a 
multitude of questions or of cares. 
Comes in one mistress Page ; gives intelligence of Ford's 
approach ; and in her invention and Ford's wife's distrac- 
tion, they conveyed me into a buck-basket. 
Sliak.,M. W. of W., iii. 5. 
4. Confusion of affairs ; tumult; disorder: as, 
political distractions. 
Never was known a night of such distraction. 
Dryden, Spanish Friar. 
5. Violent mental excitement, or extreme ag- 
ony of mind, simulating madness in its tenden- 
cies or outward exhibition; despairing pertur- 
bation : as, this toothache drives me to distrac- 
tion. 
How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted, 
In the distraction of this madding fever ! 
Shak., Sonnets, cxix. 
This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing 
To waft me from distraction. 
Byron, Childe Harold, iii. 85. 
The distraction of the children, who saw both their pa- 
rents expiring together, would have melted the hardest 
heart. Tatter. 
6. A state of disordered reason ; frenzy ; in- 
sanity; madness. 
What new crotchet next ? 
There is so much sense in this wild distraction, 
That I am almost out of my wits too. 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, Iv. 2. 
J'orc'd to the field he came, but in the rear ; 
And feign'd distraction to conceal his fear. 
Dryden, Ajax and Ulysses, 1. 52. 
To live upon the hopes of unseen things is madness and 
distraction, if there be no heaven, no unseen things for us. 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I., Pref. to xi. 
7. A cause of diversion or of bewilderment, as 
of the attention or the mind ; something that 
distracts, in any sense: as, the distractions of 
gayety or of business ; labor is often a distrac- 
tion from gloomy thoughts. 
The invitation offered an agreeable distraction to Mag- 
gie's tears. George JSKot, Mill on the Floss, i. 4. 
He [Shakspere] allows us here and there the repose of 
a commonplace character, the consoling distraction of a 
humorous one. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 18i 
8. In Gr. gram., the dialectic or poetical use of 
two similar vowels identical in pronunciation, 
or differing only in quantity, for a single long 
vowel in the ordinary Greek form : as, <t>6uc, for 
<t>i>f, opou for opo, upaarof for Kparoc, tCf.rpi&uv for 
t&r/6uv, etc. Such forms are really examples of assim- 
ilation, as an intermediate stage between an earlier open 
form with different vowels and the later contracted form 
as, (1) opico, (2) 6pdo>, (3) 6po>. 
9. In French-Canadian law, the divesting of the 
right to costs from the client or other person 
presumptively or ordinarily entitled, and the 
declaration of it to belong to the attorney, 
guardian, or other person equitably entitled. 
1696 
lOt. A confusing division or course ; a mis- 
leading separation or detachment of parts. 
[Only m the passage cited.] 
While he was yet in Rome, 
His power [army] went out in such distractions as 
Beguil'd all spies. Shot., A. and C., iii. 7. 
-Syn. 6. Derangement, aberration of mind, delirium, 
mania. 
distractioust (dis-trak'shus), a. [< distraction 
+ -OMS.] Distractive. 
Without such a nature, it would render his providence, 
to human apprehension, laborious and distractions. 
Cudworth, Intellectual System, Pref. 
distractive (dis-trak'tiv), a. [< distract + -ive.~\ 
Causing perplexity: as, distractive cares. Drij- 
den. 
distinctively (dis-trak'tiv-li), adv. In a dis- 
tracting or perplexing manner. Carlyle. 
distrain (dis-tran'), v. [< ME. distreynen, des- 
trcyncn, dfstraynen, < OF. destraindre, destrein- 
dre, distraindre, compel, constrain, restrain, = 
Pr. destrenger, destrenher = It. distringere, dis- 
trignere, < L. distringere, pp. districtus, pull 
asunder, stretch out, engage, hinder, molest, 
ML. also compel, coerce, as by exacting a 
pledge by a fine or by imprisonment, < dis-, 
apart, + stringers, draw tight, strain: see 
strain^, strict, stringent, etc., and cf. constrain, 
restrain. See also district, distringas, distress."] 
I. trans. If. To pull or tear asunder; rend 
apart. 
That same net so cunningly was wound, 
That neither guile nor force might it distraint. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. xii. 82. 
2f. To press with force ; bear with force upon ; 
constrain; compel. 
The gentyl faucon that with his feet distraynith 
The kyngis hand. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 337. 
Distreyne here hcrte as faste to retorne, 
As thou dost myn to longen here to Be. 
Chaucer, Troilus, v. 596. 
3f. To restrain; bind; confine. 
Distrained with chayncs. Chaucer, Boethius, ii. prose 6. 
4f. To distress ; torment ; afflict. 
Palamon, that love destreyneth so, 
That wood out of his wit he goth for wo. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 597. 
Moch he were distrained in thought, 
And . . . for the dede sighed full ofte there. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 614. 
Some secret sorrow did her heart distraine. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 38. 
5f. To gain or take possession of; seize; secure. 
The proverbe saith, he that to mucheenbraceth distrain- 
rth litell. Testament of Lam. 
Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king, 
Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., i. S. 
6. In late: (a) To take and withhold (another's 
chattel), in order to apply it in satisfaction of the 
distrainor's demand against him, or to hold it 
until he renders satisfaction. The right to distrain 
was recognized at common law as a private remedy in the 
nature of a reprisal, by which a person might take the per- 
sonal property of another into his possession, and hold it 
as a pledge or security until satisfaction was made, as by 
the payment of a debt, the discharge of some duty, or as 
reparation for an injury done, with the right in certain 
cases to sell it to obtain satisfaction as in the instance of 
the impounding of cattle, damage feasant, or the taking 
by the landlord of the goods and chattels of a tenant while 
still upon the premises, for the non-payment of rent. 
If anie member, of his froward disposition or otherwise, 
refuse to pay quarterage, penalties, arrearages, or other 
amerciaments, the master and wardens, with their officers, 
shall have power at lawful times to enter such member's 
shop, and distrain the same. 
Quoted in English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), Int., p. cxxvii., note. 
They thought it lawfull, and made it a use to distrayne 
one anothers goodes for small detts. 
Spenser, State of Ireland. 
The plaintiff in the action was the owner of the dis- 
trained cattle, and the defendant was the distrainor. 
Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 265. 
(6) To seize and hold in satisfaction of a de- 
mand or claim, or in order to compel the per- 
formance of an obligation; seize under judicial 
process or authority : said of any movable prop- 
erty, or of goods and chattels. See distringas 
and distress, 
II. intrans. To make seizure of goods in 
satisfaction of a claim, or in order to compel 
the performance of an obligation. 
The earl answered, I will not lend money to my snperi- 
our, upon whom I cannot distrain for the debt. 
Camden, Remains. 
For neglecting to do suit to the lord's court, or other 
certain personal service, the lord may distrain of common 
Blackstone, Com., III. i. 
Unless the complainant who sought to distrain went 
through all the acts and words required by the law with 
the most rigorous accuracy, he in his turn . . . incurred 
a variety of penalties. 
Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 273. 
distress 
distrainable (dis-tra'na-bl), a. [< OF. destrai- 
gnable, destrrignable, < Destraindre, distrain : see 
distrain and -able.] Liable to be distrained, or 
seized in satisfaction of a claim, or in order to 
compel the performance of some obligation. 
Instead therefore of mentioning those things which are 
distrainable, it will be easier to recount those which are 
not so, with the reason of their particular exemption. 
Blackstone, Com., III. i. 
distrainer, distrainor (dis-tra'ner, -nor), n. 
[< OF. (AF.) dcstreinor, < destrcindre, distrain: 
see distrain,] One who distrains or seizes goods 
for debt or service ; one who makes or causes 
seizure by way of distress. 
The distrainer has no other power than to retain them 
[chattels which have been seized] till satisfaction is made. 
Btackstone, Com., III. i. 
The Sheriff flrstof all demanded a view of the impounded 
cattle ; if this were refused, he treated the dintrainor as 
having committed a violent breach of the King's peace. 
Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 264. 
distrainment (dis-tran'ment), H. The act of 
distraining, or the state of being distrained. 
distrainor, n. See distrainer. 
distraint (dis-tranf), n. [< OF. destrainte, des- 
traincte, distraincte, restraint, < distraint, pp. of 
destraindre, distrain : see distrain.'] In law, the 
act of distraining ; a distress. 
The distraint of cattle for damage still retains a variety 
of archaic features. It is not a complete remedy. The 
taker merely keeps the cattle until satisfaction is made to 
him for the injury, or till they are returned by him on an 
engagement to contest the right to distrain in an action 
of Replevin. Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 22. 
distrait (dis-tra'), a. [F., = E. distract, dis- 
traught, < L. distractus: see distract, a.] 1. 
Abstracted; absent-minded; inattentive. 
And then she got Grace supper, and tried to make her 
talk ; but she was distrait, reserved. 
Kingsley, Two Years Ago, xxvi. 
2. In French laic, awarded to another. See din- 
traction, 9. 
distratt, . See distract. Chaucer. 
distraught (dis-traf), j. a. [< ME. distrauht, 
another form of distract, destrat, distracted, etc. : 
see distract, a.] If. Drawn apart; separated. 
She sent an arrow forth with mighty draught, . . . 
And, in his nape arriving, through it tlirild 
His greedy throte, therewith in two distraught. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. vii. 31. 
2. Distracted; bewildered; perplexed; being 
in or manifesting a state of distraction. 
Distrauhte in thouhte, refourme hem to resonn. 
Lydgate, Minor Poems, p. 206. 
To doubt betwixt our senses and our souls 
Which are the most distraught and full of pain. 
Mrs. Browning. 
His aspect was so dazed and distraught as to suggest 
the suspicion that the sherry had been exceptionally po- 
tent. J. Hawthorne, Dust, p. 165. 
distraughtedt, a. [< distraught + -ed.~\ Dis- 
traught. 
My weake distraughted mynd. 
Spenser, Heavenly Beauty. 
distreamt (dis-trem'), r. i. [< L. dis- + E. 
stream.] To flow out or over. 
Yet o'er that virtuous blush iIMn-am* a tear. 
Shenstone. 
distress (dis-tres')> ' * [< ME. distresses, 
distresen, < OF. destresxcr, dextrecier, destrechier, 
destroisser, restrain, constrain, put in straits, 
afflict, distress, < ML. as if *distric1iare, an as- 
sumed freq.form of L. distringere, pp. districtus, 
pull asunder, stretch out, ML. compel, coerce, 
distrain: see distrain and district. Hence (in 
part), by apheresis, stress, v., q. y.] 1 . To con- 
strain or compel by pain, suffering, or force of 
circumstances. 
Though the distrust of futurity is a strange error, yet it 
is an error into which bad men may naturally be distressed. 
For it is impossible to bid defiance to final ruin without 
some refuge in imagination, some presumption of escape. 
Young, Night Thoughts, vii., Pref. 
Men who can neither be distressed or won into a sacri- 
fice of duty. Hamilton. 
Muley Abul Hassan now abandoned all hope of carrying 
the place by assault, and attempted to distress it into 
terms by turning the channel of the river which runs by 
its walls. Irving, Granada, p. 44. 
2. To afflict with pain, physical or mental ; op- 
press or crush with suffering, misfortune, or 
calamity; make miserable. 
Whan the kynge Belynans com to the bataile as was 
grete nede to the kynge Brangoro, nnd to the kynge Cara- 
dos, ffor thei were so dfrtrtuMd that thei were eiten at 
flight. Mfrlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 249. 
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. 
2 Cor. iv. 8. 
What in their tempers teased us or distressed 
Is, with our anger anil the dead, at rest. 
Crabbe, Works, II. 26. 
