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Definition of "chattel" [chat•tel]

  • Law An article of movable personal property. (noun)
  • A slave. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "chattel" in a sentence
  • "To mark the occasion, Manischewitz presents -- without any hint of irony -- the story of the Passover Seder that a Southern Jew celebrated while fighting to defend his state's power to maintain chattel slavery."
  • "But when only one partner wears a ring which the world traditionally reads as "taken" or "owned", then sorry, but yes, the word chattel does spring to mind."
  • "Tell me if the principle which permits one man to regard another as a chattel is not destructive in"