An agreement, made upon a sufficient consideration , between an insolvent or embarrassed debtor and his creditors, whereby the latter, for the sake of immediate payment, agree to accept a dividend less than the whole amount of their claims, to be distributed pro rata, in discharge and satisfaction of the whole. Bank v. McGeoch, 92 Wis. 280, GO N. W. GOG; Crossley v. Moore, 40 N. J. Law, 27; Crawford v. Krueger, 201 Pa. 348, 50 Atl. 931; In re Merriman’s Estate, 17 Fed. Cas. 131; Chapman v. Mfg. Co., 77 Me. 210; In re Adler (D. C.) 103 Fed. 444. ” Composition ” should be distinguished from “accord.” The latter properly denotes an arrangement between a debtor and a single creditor for a discharge of the obligation by a part payment or on different terms. The former designates an arrangement between a debtor and the whole body of his creditors (or at least a considerable proportion of them) for the liquidation of their claims by the dividend offered
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
