constraint
[kuh n-streynt]
- 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.
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Origin of constraint
1350–1400; Middle English constreinte < Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of constreindre; see constrain
Synonyms
See more synonyms for constraint on Thesaurus.com1. force, obligation, pressure.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for constraint
Contemporary Examples
In short, Mr. Obama feels no constraint in faithfully executing the laws as written by the Congress.
Gravity is transformed from the constraint that holds us dully to Earth into the power that lets us fly.
The capital gains rate will never be a driver of investment, only a constraint upon it.
Well, the other constraint is the amount of information available.
That seems obvious, but the constraint it puts on good policy is enormous.
Historical Examples
The lawyer's face sobered, and his tone as he answered was tinged with constraint.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
But then there was constraint in the correspondence—it was submitted to her mother.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
But, placid as she was, my mother was authoritative, and could not endure any kind of constraint.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
Vere felt that somehow her eager suggestion had deepened the constraint.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
At length the clerk came up to him with awkward manners and a look of constraint.
The ChristianHall Caine
constraint
- compulsion, force, or restraint
- repression or control of natural feelings or impulses
- a forced unnatural manner; inhibition
- something that serves to constrain; restrictive conditionsocial constraints kept him silent
- linguistics any very general restriction on a sentence formation rule
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for constraint
n.
late 14c., "distress, oppression," from Old French constreinte "binding, constraint, compulsion" (Modern French contrainte), fem. noun from constreint, past participle of constreindre, from Vulgar Latin *constrinctus, from Latin constrictus (see constrain). Meaning "coercion, compulsion" is from 1530s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper