lien

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.

The right to hold another’s property as security for a debt owed.

The spleen.

An obsolete or archaic past participle of lie.

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.

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.

Hence A claim; occasion of demand; right to compensation.

p. p. of lie. See lain.

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.

A tendon.