verb
-
to compel or force, esp by persuasion, circumstances, etc; oblige
-
to restrain by or as if by force; confine
Other Word Forms
- constrainable adjective
- constrainer noun
- constrainingly adverb
- nonconstraining adjective
- unconstrainable adjective
- unconstraining adjective
Etymology
Origin of constrain
1275–1325; Middle English constrei ( g ) nen < Anglo-French, Middle French constrei ( g ) n- (stem of constreindre ) < Latin constringere. See con-, strain 1
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.
As data centers begin to incur depreciation costs, free cash flow will only become more constrained.
From MarketWatch
No other video provider is constrained by the government in that way—including competitors like YouTube and Netflix, which didn’t exist in 1996.
He offered no details on how Russian, Chinese and U.S. nuclear forces would be constrained while a new pact is drafted.
But he said nothing about how he hopes to constrain Russian, Chinese and U.S. nuclear forces in the months or years that it might take to draft a new nuclear pact.
Even with gross domestic product growth running at just a little over 2% a year, Australia’s economy is badly constrained.
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.
