restrain
Americanverb (used with object)
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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prerestrainverb (used with object)
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restrainableadjective
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overrestrainverb (used with object)
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unrestrainableadjective
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restrainabilitynoun
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restraininglyadverb
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has restrainedperfect 3rd person singular
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have restrainedperfect
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have been restrainingperfect progressive
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is restrainingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are restrainingprogressive
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am restrainingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been restrainingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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restrainssingular 3rd person
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restrainingparticiple
Past
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had restrainedperfect
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was restrainingprogressive singular
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were restrainingprogressive plural
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restrainedsimple
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had been restrainingperfect progressive
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restrainedparticiple
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.
Another tip: Restrain yourself from cranking the thermostat too high when you come into your home.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 20, 2021
Her advice: Restrain your dog in the back seat with a harness, with the leash clipped on, in case Dash decides to dart out of the car during a pit stop.
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2018
Restrain the impulse, and you may only bring forth empty images, beautiful and static.
From Time Magazine Archive
Restrain your feelings, lad; you’ll have much to go through before you are out of the fire.”
From Old Jack by Kingston, William Henry Giles
Muse! regulate your pace;— Restrain, awhile, your frisking, and your giggling!
From Broad Grins Comprising, With New Additional Tales in Verse, Those Formerly Publish'd Under the Title "My Night-Gown and Slippers." by Colman, George
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.
