plural liens
law
: a legal claim that someone or something has on the property of another person until a debt has been paid back
The bank had a lien on our house. [=the bank had the right to take our house if we did not pay back the money we had borrowed to buy it]
Cite this Entry
“Lien.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/lien. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
Copy Citation
