constraint
limitation or restriction.
repression of natural feelings and impulses: to practice constraint.
unnatural restraint in manner, conversation, etc.; embarrassment.
something that constrains.
the act of constraining.
the condition of being constrained.
Linguistics. a restriction on the operation of a linguistic rule or the occurrence of a linguistic construction.
Origin of constraint
1Other words for constraint
Other words from constraint
- non·con·straint, noun
Words Nearby constraint
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use constraint in a sentence
The resulting annual bill was enormous, though USPS has skipped billions in payments since 2010, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General, citing financial constraints.
Info About Local Post Office Operations Is Conflicting and Hard to Come By | Ashly McGlone and Kate Nucci | August 27, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoSome of the strongest constraints you have on those models are within the solar system, because we understand gravity so well here.
Production constraints and supply hoarding could complicate manufacturing.
An Indian Company Is Gearing Up to Make Millions of Doses of a $3 Covid-19 Vaccine | Vanessa Bates Ramirez | August 12, 2020 | Singularity HubResearchers have been warning for months that production constraints and hoarding could limit Covid-19 vaccine supplies.
Most of Africa will not have access to Covid-19 vaccines for up to a year after approval | Uwagbale Edward-Ekpu | August 6, 2020 | QuartzThe payoff was a liberating and original way of viewing your own society, denuded of its specialness and its constraints.
“They kept saying there was a time constraint, I had to make a decision,” she said.
In short, Mr. Obama feels no constraint in faithfully executing the laws as written by the Congress.
The ‘Defining Issue of Our Time’ Is Obama’s Constitutional Excesses | Ron Christie | January 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGravity is transformed from the constraint that holds us dully to Earth into the power that lets us fly.
Immigration is even less "easy", because the main constraint on foriegn doctors is not visas, but residency slots.
We need to be prudent; in an era of budget constraint, I think it will turn out that little fixes will have the greatest payoff.
Should We Build Massive Flood Gates in New York Harbor? | Megan McArdle | November 5, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIn that case, Valerie, you shall suffer no constraint; you shall continue here as you have done.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniAusterity banishes familiarity from family life and engenders constraint.
Friend Mac Donald | Max O'RellHis gestures, his manner, showed trace of it in a certain constraint, a sort of hesitating distrust.
The Nabob | Alphonse DaudetAt lunch Susan, between Liosha and Jaffery, became the centre of attention and saved conversation from constraint.
Jaffery | William J. LockeSo, after a little constraint and coldness, he began to stand in much the same relation to him as before.
Eric, or Little by Little | Frederic W. Farrar
British Dictionary definitions for constraint
/ (kənˈstreɪnt) /
compulsion, force, or restraint
repression or control of natural feelings or impulses
a forced unnatural manner; inhibition
something that serves to constrain; restrictive condition: social constraints kept him silent
linguistics any very general restriction on a sentence formation rule
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
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