Lien

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Floating charge \Floating charge\, lien \lien\, etc. (Law)
     A charge, lien, etc., that successively attaches to such
     assets as a person may have from time to time, leaving him
     more or less free to dispose of or encumber them as if no
     such charge or lien existed.



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Lie \Lie\, v. i. [imp. {Lay} (l[=a]); p. p. {Lain} (l[=a]n),
     ({Lien} (l[imac]"[e^]n), Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lying}.]
     [OE. lien, liggen, AS. licgan; akin to D. liggen, OHG. ligen,
     licken, G. liegen, Icel. liggja, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge, Goth.
     ligan, Russ. lejate, L. lectus bed, Gr. le`chos bed,
     le`xasqai to lie. Cf. {Lair}, {Law}, {Lay}, v. t., {Litter},
     {Low}, adj.]
     1. To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to
        be, or to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or
        nearly so; to be prostate; to be stretched out; -- often
        with down, when predicated of living creatures; as, the
        book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies
        in his coffin.
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              The watchful traveler . . .
              Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. --Dryden.
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     2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland
        lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the
        ship lay in port.
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     3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in
        a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie
        fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie
        under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves;
        the paper does not lie smooth on the wall.
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     4. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding
        place; to consist; -- with in.
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              Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though
              unequal in circumstances.             --Collier.
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              He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard
              labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of
              huntsmen.                             --Locke.
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     5. To lodge; to sleep.
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              Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . .
              . where I lay one night only.         --Evelyn.
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              Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. --Dickens.
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     6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
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              The wind is loud and will not lie.    --Shak.
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     7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being
        maintained. "An appeal lies in this case." --Parsons.
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     Note: Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers
           often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay
           and lie. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its
           preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I
           laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its
           preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay
           down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the
           preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid
           down. So persons often say incorrectly, the ship laid
           at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was
           laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to
           remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit
           of lay, and not of lie.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {To lie along the shore} (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in
        sight.
  
     {To lie at the door of}, to be imputable to; as, the sin,
        blame, etc., lies at your door.
  
     {To lie at the heart}, to be an object of affection, desire,
        or anxiety. --Sir W. Temple.
  
     {To lie at the mercy of}, to be in the power of.
  
     {To lie by}.
        (a) To remain with; to be at hand; as, he has the
            manuscript lying by him.
        (b) To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay by during the
            heat of the day.
  
     {To lie hard} or {To lie heavy}, to press or weigh; to bear
        hard.
  
     {To lie in}, to be in childbed; to bring forth young.
  
     {To lie in one}, to be in the power of; to belong to. "As
        much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." --Rom.
        xii. 18.
  
     {To lie in the way}, to be an obstacle or impediment.
  
     {To lie in wait}, to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush.
        
  
     {To lie on} or {To lie upon}.
        (a) To depend on; as, his life lies on the result.
        (b) To bear, rest, press, or weigh on.
  
     {To lie low}, to remain in concealment or inactive. [Slang]
        
  
     {To lie on hand},
  
     {To lie on one's hands}, to remain unsold or unused; as, the
        goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much
        time lying on their hands.
  
     {To lie on the head of}, to be imputed to.
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              What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it
              lie on my head.                       --Shak.
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     {To lie over}.
        (a) To remain unpaid after the time when payment is due,
            as a note in bank.
        (b) To be deferred to some future occasion, as a
            resolution in a public deliberative body.
  
     {To lie to} (Naut.), to stop or delay; especially, to head as
        near the wind as possible as being the position of
        greatest safety in a gale; -- said of a ship. Cf. {To
        bring to}, under {Bring}.
  
     {To lie under}, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed
        by.
  
     {To lie with}.
        (a) To lodge or sleep with.
        (b) To have sexual intercourse with.
        (c) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Lien \Li"en\ (l[imac]"[e^]n), obs.
     p. p. of {Lie}. See {lain}. --Ps. lxviii. 13.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Lien \Lien\ (l[=e]n or l[imac]"[e^]n; 277), n. [F. lien band,
     bond, tie, fr. L. ligamen, fr. ligare to bind. Cf. {League} a
     union, {Leam} a string, {Leamer}, {Ligament}.] (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.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  lien
       n 1: the right to take another's property if an obligation is not
            discharged
       2: 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 [syn: {spleen}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  34 Moby Thesaurus words for "lien":
     adjustment mortgage, antichresis, blanket mortgage, bottomry,
     bottomry bond, chattel mortgage, closed mortgage, common-law lien,
     dead pledge, deed of trust, first mortgage, general lien, hypothec,
     hypothecation, installment mortgage, judgment lien,
     leasehold mortgage, living pledge, mortgage, mortgage bond,
     mortgage deed, mortuum vadium, participating mortgage,
     particular lien, pignus judiciale, pignus legale, second mortgage,
     security agreement, statutory lien, tax lien, third mortgage,
     trust mortgage, vadium mortuum, vadium vivum
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  LIEN, contracts. In its most extensive signification, this term includes 
  every case in which real or personal property is charged with the payment of 
  any debt or duty; every such charge being denominated a lien on the 
  property. In a more limited sense it is defined to be a right of detaining 
  the property of another until some claim be satisfied. 2 East 235; 6 East 
  25; 2 Campb. 579;  2 Meriv. 494; 2 Rose, 357; 1 Dall. R. 345. 
       2. The right of lien generally arises by operation of law, but in some 
  cases it is created by express contract. 
       3. There are two kinds of lien; namely, particular and general. When a 
  person claims a right to retain property, in respect of money or labor 
  expended on such particular property, this is a particular lien. Liens may 
  arise in three ways: 1st. By express contract. 2d. From implied contract, as 
  from general or particular usage of trade. 3d. By legal relation between the 
  parties, which may be created in three ways; When the law casts an 
  obligation on a party to do a particular act, and in return for which, to 
  secure him payment, it gives him such lien; 1 Esp. R. 109; 6 East, 519; 2 
  Ld. Raym. 866; common carriers and inn keepers are among this number. 2. 
  When goods are delivered to a tradesman or any other, to expend his labor 
  upon, he is entitled to detain those goods until he is remunerated for the 
  labor which he so expends. 2 Roll. Ab. 92; 3 M. & S. 167; 14 Pick. 332; 3 
  Bouv. Inst. n. 2514. 3. When goods have been saved from the perils of the 
  sea, the salvor may detain them until his claim for salvage is satisfied; 
  but in no other case has the finder of goods, a lien. 2 Salk. 654; 5 Burr. 
  2732; 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 2518. General liens arise in three ways; 1. By the 
  agreement of the parties. 6 T. R.14; 3 Bos. & Pull. 42. 2. By the general 
  usage of trade. 3. By particular usage of trade. Whitaker on Liens 35; Prec. 
  Ch. 580; 1 Atk. 235; 6 T. R. 19. 
       4. It may be proper to consider a few, general principles: 1. As to the 
  manner in which a lien may be acquired. 2. To what claims liens properly 
  attach. 3. How they may be lost. 4. Their effect. 
       5.-1. How liens may be acquired. To create a valid lien, it is 
  essential, 1st. That the party to whom or by whom it is acquired should have 
  the absolute property or ownership of the thing, or, at least, a right to 
  vest it. 2d. That the party claiming the lien should have an actual or 
  constructive, possession, with the assent of the party against whom the 
  claim is made. 3 Chit. Com. Law, 547; Paley on Ag. by Lloyd, 137; 17 Mass. 
  R. 197; 4 Campb. R. 291; 3 T. R. 119 and 783; 1 East, R. 4; 7 East, R. 5; 1 
  Stark. R. 123; 3 Rose, R. 955; 3 Price, R. 547; 5 Binn. R. 392. 3d. That the 
  lien should arise upon an agreement, express or implied, and not be for a 
  limited or specific purpose inconsistent with the express terms, or the 
  clear, intent of the contract; 2 Stark. R. 272; 6 T. R. 258; 7 Taunt. 278;. 
  5 M. & S. 180; 15 Mass. 389, 397; as, for example, when goods are deposited 
  to be delivered to a third person, or to be transported to another place. 
  Pal. on Ag. by Lloyd, 140. 
       6.-2. The debts or claims to which liens properly attach. 1st. In 
  general, liens properly attach on liquidated demands, and not on those which 
  sound only in damages; 3 Chit. Com. Law, 548; though by an express contract 
  they may attach even in such a case as, where the goods are to be held as an 
  indemnity against a future contingent claim or damages. Ibid. 2d. The claim 
  for which the lien is asserted, must he due to the party claiming it in his 
  own right, and not merely as agent of a third person. It must be a debt or 
  demand due from the very person for whose benefit the party is acting, and 
  not from a third person, although the goods may be claimed through him. Pal. 
  Ag. by Lloyd, 132. 
       7.-3. How a lien may be lost. 1st. It may be waived or lost by any 
  act or agreement between the parties, by which it is surrendered, or becomes 
  inapplicable. 2d. It may also be lost by voluntarily parting with the 
  possession of the goods. But to this rule there are some exceptions; for 
  example, when a factor by lawful authority sells the goods of his principal, 
  and parts with the possession under the sale he is not, by this act, deemed 
  to lose his lien, but it attaches to the proceeds of the sale in the hands 
  of the vendee. 
       8.-4. The effect of liens. In general, the right of the holder of the 
  lien is confined to the mere right of retainer. But when the creditor has 
  made advances on the goods of a factor, he is generally invested with the 
  right to sell. Holt's N P. Rep. 383; 3 Chit. Com. Law, 551; 2 Liverm. Ag. 
  103; 2 Kent's Com. 642, 3d ed. In some cases where the lien would not confer 
  power to sell, a court of equity would decree it. 1 Story Eq. Jur. Sec. 566; 
  2 Story, Eq. Jur. Sec. 1216; Story Ag. Sec. 371. And courts of admiralty 
  will decree a sale to satisfy maritime liens. Ab. Sh. pt. 3, c10. Sec. 2; 
  Story, Ag. Sec. 371. 
       9. Judgments rendered in courts of record are generally liens on the 
  real estate of the defendants or parties against whom such judgments are 
  given. In  Alabama, Georgia and Indiana, judgment is a lien; in the last 
  mentioned state, it continues for ten years from January 1, 1826, if it was 
  rendered from that time; if, after ten years from the rendition of the 
  judgment, and when the proceedings are stayed by order of the court, or by 
  an agreement recorded, the time of its suspension is not reckoned in the ten 
  years. A judgment does not bind lands in Kentucky, the lien commences by the 
  delivery of execution to the sheriff, or officer. 4 Pet. R. 366; 1 Dane's R. 
  360. The law seems to be the same in Mississippi. 2 Hill. Ab. c. 46, s. 6., 
  In New Jersey, the judgments take priority among themselves in the order the 
  executions on them have been issued. The lien of a judgment and the decree 
  of a court of chancery continue a lien in New York for ten years, and bind 
  after acquired lands. N. Y. Stat. part 3, t. 4, s. 3. It seems that a 
  judgment is a lien in North Carolina, if an elegit has been sued out, but 
  this is perhaps not settled. 2 Murph. R. 43. The lien of a judgment in Ohio 
  is confined to the county, and continues only for one year, unless revived. 
  It does not, per se, bind after acquired lands. In Pennsylvania, it 
  commences with the rendering of judgment, and continues five years from the 
  return day of that term. It does not, per se, bind after acquired lands. It 
  may be revived by scire facias, or an agreement of the parties, and terre 
  tenants, written and filed. In South Carolina and Tennessee a judgment is 
  also a lien. In the New England states, lands are attached by mesne process 
  or on the writ, and a lien is thereby created. See 2 Hill. Ab. c. 46. 
      10. Liens are also divided into legal and equitable. The former are 
  those which may be enforced in a court of law; the latter are valid only in 
  a court of equity. The lien which the vendor of real estate has on the 
  estate sold, for the purchase money remaining unpaid, is a familiar example 
  of an equitable lien. Math. on Pres. 392. Vide Purchase money. Vide, 
  generally, Yelv. 67, a; 2 Kent, Com. 495; Pal Ag. 107; Whit. on Liens; Story 
  on Ag. ch. 14, Sec. 351, et seq: Hov. Fr. 35. 
      11. Lien of mechanics and material men. By virtue of express statutes in 
  several of the states, mechanics and material men, or persons who furnish 
  materials for the erection of houses or other buildings, are entitled to a 
  lien or preference in the payment of debts out of the houses and buildings 
  so erected, and to the land, to a greater or lessor extent, on which they 
  are erected. A considerable similarity exists in the laws of the different 
  states which have legislated on this subject. 
      12. The lien generally attaches from the commencement of the work or the 
  furnishing of materials, and continues for a limited period of time. In some 
  states, a claim must be filed in the office of the clerk or prothonotary of 
  the court, or a suit brought within a limited time. On the sale of the 
  building these liens are to be paid pro rata. In some states no lien is 
  created unless the work done or the goods furnished amount to a certain 
  specified sum, while in others there is no limit to the amount. In general, 
  none but the original contractors can claim under the law; sometimes, 
  however, sub-contractors have the same right. 
      13. The remedy is various; in some states, it is by scire facias on the 
  lien, in others, it is by petition to the court for an order of sale: in 
  some, the property is subject to foreclosure, as on a mortgage; in others, 
  by a common action. See 1 Hill. Ab. ch. 40, p. 354, where will be found an 
  abstract of the laws of the several states, except the state of Louisiana; 
  for the laws of that state, see Civ. Code of Louis. art. 2727 to 2748. See 
  generally, 5 Binn. 585; 2 Browne, R. 229, n. 275; 2 Rawle  R. 316; Id. 343; 
  3 Rawle, R. 492; 5 Rawle R. 291; 2 Whart. R. 223; 2 S. & R. 138; 14 S. & R. 
  32; 12 S. & R. 301; 3 Watts, R. 140, 141; Id. 301; 5 Watts, R. 487; 14 Pick. 
  P,. 49; Serg. on Mech. Liens.