restrain
Americanverb (used with object)
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restrains,
present (3rd person singular)
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restrained,
past participle, past
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restraining
present participle
verb
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to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force
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to deprive (someone) of liberty, as by imprisonment
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to limit or restrict
Synonym Usage
See check 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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restrainabilitynoun
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overrestrainverb (used with object)
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prerestrainverb (used with object)
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restrainableadjective
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unrestrainableadjective
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restraininglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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restrainsimple
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restrainssimple
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have restrainedperfect
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has restrainedperfect
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am restrainingprogressive
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are restrainingprogressive
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is restrainingprogressive
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have been restrainingperfect progressive
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has been restrainingperfect progressive
Past
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restrainedsimple
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had restrainedperfect
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was restrainingprogressive
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were restrainingprogressive
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had been restrainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of restrain
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English restreynen, from Middle French restreindre, from Latin restringere “to bind back, bind fast”; equivalent to re- + strain 1
Explanation
Restrain means to hold yourself back, which is exactly what you'd have to do if, after weeks of dieting, you found yourself face to face with a dessert case filled with pies, cakes, and cookies. Restrain can also mean to restrict or hold back someone else, to prevent someone from doing what they're intending to do. Prison guards have to restrain a prisoner who is trying to attack one of his fellow inmates. That prisoner might even be put in handcuffs — a kind of restraint. You can restrain yourself, for example if you're watching a Broadway show and suddenly feel the urge to sing along. Your fellow audience members would be grateful for your restraint, especially if you've got a terrible voice.
Vocabulary lists containing restrain
List 10
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It may also alter the immune environment around the tumor in a way that helps the immune system attack or restrain the cancer.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer described the new rules as “modest measures that will help prevent and restrain potential gross abuses of the mails to perpetrate a fraud on the Nation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
South Korea’s headline inflation moderated in July after reaching a 30-month high in June, as government measures partly helped restrain fuel and electricity prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Higher rates tend to depress economic growth and restrain inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
“I am very greatly rejoiced to find that an occasion has occurred so pleasurable that the people cannot restrain themselves,” he jokes.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Not only is doing all this good for me physically, but it restrains my out-of-pocket medical costs and makes me better able to play with my grandkids.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Where other filmmakers would painstakingly elucidate every thematic detail to make their silly popcorn movie “say something,” Mitchell restrains himself.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Policymakers believe an interest rate of 3.75% restrains activity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
TUV leader Jim Allister said he welcomed the ruling as it "restrains" the effect of the Windsor Framework.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
Kat restrains my hand and stoops over him.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Instead they must be restrained through policies and laws, she said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Emily Adel, chief of staff at a publishing company, remembers watching her mom live a limited life, restrained by demands at home, never traveling even during her “best years.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Rubner, meanwhile, took note of the lull in the earnings-report calendar, the typically restrained activity by retail investors during September and the pre-earnings blackout period that will block corporate share buybacks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Even the drama she injects into the chorus feels restrained, as that “wiry” voice slips and slides around notes, like icy wind through the walls of a mountain cabin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
They laughed among themselves and agreed that I should be more restrained.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Circuit held an emergency hearing in a lawsuit filed by the news outlets, and at around midnight, Judge Kelly issued a temporary restraining order to stop the White House ban for 14 days.
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2026
He referred to himself as an “international arms dealer and mercenary,” the request for a restraining order said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
According to the New York Times’ reporting on the court records, the restraining order request, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville, sought to keep Seaver away from Parton’s properties and staff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
The request for a restraining order was filed in Nashville on Tuesday by She's Alive, which is run by Parton's longtime manager Danny Nozell.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
“No, we’ve got to find him guilty first,” the officer without insignia cautioned with a languid restraining wave.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
