constrain

[kuhn-streyn]

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verb (used with object)

to force, compel, or oblige: He was constrained to admit the offense.

to confine forcibly, as by bonds.

to repress or restrain: Cold weather constrained the plant's growth.

Nearby words

Origin of constrain

1275–1325; Middle English constrei(g)nen < Anglo-French, Middle French constrei(g)n- (stem of constreindre) < Latin constringere. See con-, strain¹

SYNONYMS FOR constrain

1. coerce. 2. check, bind.

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ANTONYMS FOR constrain

2. free.

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Related forms

con·strain·a·ble, adjectivecon·strain·er, nouncon·strain·ing·ly, adverbnon·con·strain·ing, adjective

un·con·strain·a·ble, adjectiveun·con·strain·ing, adjective

Can be confusedcoerce compel constrain force oblige

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for constrain

Isha Aran at Jezebel worries that the show “glorif[ies] the way religion can constrain people.”
Your Husband Is Definitely Gay: TLC’s Painful Portrait of Mormonism|Samantha Allen|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This argument is vital to a larger argument: Do we obey the rules set up to constrain government or not?
Obama’s ISIS War Is Illegal|Sen. Rand Paul|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But when you can sing like that, how can you constrain that voice and possibly be comfortable in the back?
‘20 Feet From Stardom’: Judith Hill, Darlene Love, and Lisa Fischer Star in the Oscar-Shortlisted Documentary|Kevin Fallon|January 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
President Obama is at least as eager to constrain Medicare spending as Republicans, possibly even more so.
Wanna Beat Obama? Here's How|David Frum|December 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The response will be to get more security, to constrain how freely ambassadors move around.
Finger-Pointing Set to Begin in Fatal Attack on U.S. Compound in Libya|Winston Ross|September 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
With this money they were enabled to control the markets and constrain Russian institutions and individuals to bow to their will.
England and Germany|Emile Joseph Dillon
It seems as though the moral of these fables implies that a supreme necessity may constrain one to comply with evil.
Theodicy|G. W. Leibniz
You cannot form the idea of my father's wishing to constrain you to accept him!
The Sylph, Volume I and II|Georgiana Cavendish
None did awake them, none did constrain them to eat, drink, nor do any other thing; for so had Gargantua established it.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)--Continental Europe I|Various
At length the Holstein nobleman behaved in such a manner as to constrain B. to send him a challenge.
Memoirs of Leonora Christina|Leonora Christina Ulfeldt

British Dictionary definitions for constrain

constrain

verb (tr)

to compel or force, esp by persuasion, circumstances, etc; oblige

to restrain by or as if by force; confine

Derived Formsconstrainer, noun

Word Origin for constrain

C14: from Old French constreindre, from Latin constringere to bind together, from stringere to bind

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for constrain

constrain

early 14c., constreyen, from stem of Old French constreindre (Modern French contraindre) "restrain, control," from Latin constringere "to bind together, tie tightly, fetter, shackle, chain," from com- "together" (see com-) + stringere "to draw tight" (see strain (v.)). Related: Constrained; constraining.

constrain

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of constrain

Examples from the Web for constrain

constrain

verb (tr)

Word Origin for constrain

constrain