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Latin. The last plank in a wreck. This figure has been used to denote the condition of a third mortgagee, who obtained his mortgage without any knowledge of a second mortgage, and then, being puisne, takes the first encumbrance; in this case he shall squeeze out and have satisfaction before the second.

The phrase is used to designate the power subsisting in a third mortgagee, who took the third mortgage without notice of the second mortgage, and then acquired the first mortgage and attached it to the third mortgage, thereby obtaining priority over the second mortgagee. The doctrine survives under the English ...