restrain
Americanverb
-
to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force
-
to deprive (someone) of liberty, as by imprisonment
-
to limit or restrict
Related Words
See check 1.
Other Word Forms
- overrestrain verb (used with object)
- prerestrain verb (used with object)
- restrainability noun
- restrainable adjective
- restrainingly adverb
- unrestrainable adjective
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
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.
He cited a longstanding law that prohibits suits against the government that seek to restrain or block tax collection and assessment.
Rep. Matt Gaetz said last week that “nobody was forced or restrained or otherwise threatened to continue participating.”
Nevada gambling regulators last week won a temporary restraining order to prevent Kalshi from offering event-based contracts related to sports, elections and entertainment.
For more than a year, the owners of other major league teams have telegraphed their desire to restrain all that spending, preferably through a salary cap.
From Los Angeles Times
But a temporary restraining order issued Wednesday by a Michigan judge ordered the supplier to resume shipments.
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.
