1
: a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty ordinarily arising by operation of law
The bank had a lien on our house.
2
: the security interest created by a mortgage
the lien of a mortgage
Examples of lien in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The company pre-arranged a debt-for-equity restructuring plan involving approximately 80 percent of its first lien debt lenders.
—
David Moin, WWD, 4 Nov. 2024
Golden Tree Asset Management provided the second lien term loan.
—Richard Collings, Axios, 29 Oct. 2024
Garvey, his wife and his companies have been named in hundreds of thousands of dollars of state and federal and tax liens, the extent of which was first reported by Politico.
—Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024
This would, according to the law of mortgages, unfairly hurt whoever holds a junior-priority lien.
—Joshua Stein, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lien 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
David Moin, WWD, 4 Nov. 2024
Golden Tree Asset Management provided the second lien term loan.
—Richard Collings, Axios, 29 Oct. 2024
Garvey, his wife and his companies have been named in hundreds of thousands of dollars of state and federal and tax liens, the extent of which was first reported by Politico.
—Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024
This would, according to the law of mortgages, unfairly hurt whoever holds a junior-priority lien.
—Joshua Stein, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lien
Dictionary Entries Near lien
Cite this Entry
“Lien.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lien. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
Legal Definition
lien
noun
: a charge or encumbrance upon property for the satisfaction of a debt or other duty that is created by agreement of the parties or especially by operation of law
specifically
: a security interest created especially by a mortgage
—
assessment lien
: a lien that is on property benefiting from an improvement made by a municipality and that secures payment of the taxes assessed to pay for the improvement
—
attachment lien
: a lien acquired on property by a creditor upon levy of an attachment
—
carrier's lien
: a lien against freight conferring on the carrier the right to retain the property until the amount due is paid
—
charging lien
: a lien attaching to a judgment or recovery awarded to a plaintiff and securing payment of the plaintiff's attorney's fees and expenses
called also special lien
—
choate lien
: a lien that requires no further action to be made enforceable and that identifies the lienor, the property subject to the lien, and the amount of the lien
—
common-law lien
: a lien under common law giving a creditor (as a bailee) in possession of property the right to retain possession until payment of the amount due
—
equitable lien
: a lien against property that does not require possession of the property and that is available in equity to prevent unjust enrichment
—
factor's lien
: a lien against property held on consignment by a factor conferring the right to retain possession of the property until payment of the amount due
Note: A factor's lien is simply a security interest and, unlike a common-law lien, is enforceable even after the factor is no longer in possession of the property.
—
first lien
: a lien taking precedence over all other claims, charges, or encumbrances of the same general category but not necessarily over those (as taxes) imposed by government sanction
—
floating lien
: a lien created in a security agreement against property owned by the debtor at the time of the agreement's creation as well as property acquired after the agreement's creation
—
general lien
: a lien that is for the satisfaction of a balance due from an owner of property and that is not confined to the amount due in respect to the property itself
: retaining lien in this entry
—
inchoate lien
: a lien for which some procedure remains unfinished or some term remains undetermined
—
involuntary lien
: a lien that arises other than by the debtor's consent (as by operation of law)
—
judgment lien
: a lien acquired against the property of a debtor by a creditor upon obtaining a favorable judgment
—
judicial lien
: a lien obtained by a legal or equitable process (as judgment, levy, attachment, or execution)
—
junior lien
: a lien that is lower in priority relative to other liens
—
landlord's lien
: a lien against the goods and valuables of a tenant to secure payment of rent or sometimes repayment of money otherwise owed to a landlord
—
maritime lien
: a lien arising under maritime law against a ship or its cargo (as for services or supplies tendered or for damages caused by a collision) which may be enforced by a court-ordered seizure of the property in order to satisfy the obligation
—
materialman's lien
\
mə-ˈtir-ē-əl-mənz-
\
: a lien on property for materials supplied
—
mechanic's lien
: a lien against a building and its site to assure priority of payment for labor or services (as construction and sometimes design) or material
—
retaining lien
: a lien that attaches to the papers or property of a client which have come into his or her attorney's possession in the course of employment and that secures payment of the attorney's fees
called also general lien
—
senior lien
: a lien that is higher in priority relative to other liens
—
special lien
: an equitable lien enforceable to compel performance of an obligation (as under a divorce settlement)
: charging lien in this entry
—
specific lien
: a lien upon specific property as security for the payment of a debt or the satisfaction of some other obligation arising out of a transaction or agreement involving that property compare general lien in this entry
—
statutory lien
: a lien imposed by statute
—
tax lien
—
vendor's lien
: a lien on especially real property securing payment in full of the purchase price by the buyer
—
voluntary lien
: a lien created (as by contract) with the consent of the debtor
Etymology
Anglo-French, bond, obligation, literally, tie, band, from Old French, from Latin ligamen, from ligare to bind
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share