restriction

American  

[ri-strik-shuhn] / rɪˈstrɪk ʃən /

noun

• restrictions
  plural

1. 

   something that restricts; a restrictive condition or regulation; limitation.

   Synonyms:

   restraint, reservation, provision, rule

2. the act of restricting.

3. the state of being restricted.

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restriction British  

/ rɪˈstrɪkʃən /

noun

1. something that restricts; a restrictive measure, law, etc

2. the act of restricting or the state of being restricted

3. logic maths a condition that imposes a constraint on the possible values of a variable or on the domain of arguments of a function

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonrestriction
  noun
• overrestriction
  noun
• prerestriction
  noun
• restrictionist
  noun
• self-restriction
  noun
• superrestriction
  noun
• prorestriction
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• restrictions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of restriction

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin restrictiōn-, stem of restrictiō; equivalent to restrict + -ion

Explanation

A restriction is a limitation or a restraint, like when a size restriction keeps you from jumping on a toddler trampoline and bouncing the smaller kids a mile up in the air. Usually a restriction is in place because a limit needs to be set. Common sense would keep you from putting a bowling ball in a paper bag; you wouldn’t need a restriction to tell you not to do it. Sometimes a restriction is the result of doing something bad or misusing a privilege, as when your parents put a restriction on video gaming to limit your time in front of the TV.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

restriction restrictions

Superconductivity gets around this restriction through a more complicated process involving pairs of electrons.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

In addition, it includes a conditional restriction that Meta also agreed to: expanding the nighttime shutdown period to 10:00 pm to 7:00 am, if other platforms also commit to do the same.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

The latest restriction came less than 48 hours after U.S.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

Joshua's deal explicitly stipulated that the bout must take place in the United Kingdom, whereas Fury's contained no such restriction.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

If we continued to disappoint him, he warned us, we’d be put on restriction and forbidden to leave the Academy at night.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

A few months later, a different judge found that the department had violated previous court restrictions by using projectile weapons to disperse crowds at protests against immigration enforcement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Between 2019 and 2025, trade restrictions globally tripled, Srinivasan noted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The mood was also helped by G7 leaders' decision to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their reserves over four months and to "refrain from export restrictions on energy".

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

Brussels also wanted "a system of export licensing for rare earths and other products" after major producer China introduced restrictions on them last year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

Though I had not known why he was absent, I had been glad that he was not there to shout his restrictions at me.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• check
• condition
• constraint
• control
• curb
• limit
• regulation
• restraint
• rule
• stipulation
• stricture