(Law) A proceeding devised to enable a person, of whom the same debt, duty, or thing is claimed adversely by two or more parties, to compel them to litigate the right or title between themselves, and thereby to relieve himself from the suits which they might otherwise bring against him.
... still crops up at times. Thus as recently as 1937, Ex parte Ayers[37] was applied to the interpretation of the Federal Interpleader Act,[38] so as to prevent taxpayers from enjoining tax officials from collecting death taxes arising from the competing claims of two States as being the last domicile of a decedent.[39] On the other hand, the Eleventh Amendment was held not to be infringed by joinder ... — The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation • Edward Corwin