straightjacket

[streyt-jak-it]

noun, verb (used with object)

straitjacket.

straitjacket

or straight·jack·et

[streyt-jak-it]

noun

a garment made of strong material and designed to bind the arms, as of a violently disoriented person.
anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders: Conventional attitudes can be a straitjacket, preventing original thinking.

verb (used with object) Also strait-jack·et.

to put in or as in a straitjacket: Her ambition was straitjacketed by her family.

Origin of straitjacket

First recorded in 1805–15; strait + jacket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for straightjacket

Historical Examples of straightjacket

I always scheduled her last, so that I could exceed the 45 minutes straightjacket of the classic therapy session.
The Capgras Shift
Sam Vaknin
We must try to prevent further violence and the doctor has sent to the hospital for a straightjacket.
Plays: The Father; Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger
August Strindberg
She must put the straightjacket on the patient when I have talked to him and given the order!
Plays: The Father; Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger
August Strindberg

British Dictionary definitions for straightjacket

straightjacket

noun

a less common spelling of straitjacket

straitjacket

noun

Also called: straightjacket a jacket made of strong canvas material with long sleeves for binding the arms of violent prisoners or mentally ill patients
a severe restriction or limitation

verb

(tr) to confine in or as if in a straitjacket

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

straightjacket in Medicine

straitjacket

A long-sleeved jacketlike garment used to bind the arms tightly against the body as a means of restraining a violent person.