straitjacket

or straight·jack·et

[ streyt-jak-it ]

/ ˈstreɪtˌdʒæk ɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR straitjacket ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

straining sill, strait, strait-lace, strait-laced, straiten, straitjacket, straits dollar, straits settlements, strake, stralsund, stramash

Origin of straitjacket

First recorded in 1805–15; strait + jacket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for straitjacket

What matters now for Rowhani is whether he can get anything done within the straitjacket imposed by Khamenei.
Rowhani's Empty Victory|Andrew Apostolou|June 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“I hope that the visit and U.S. engagement will put the generals in a straitjacket,” said Aung Zaw.
Obama Does Delicate Dance on Historic Visit to Burma|Lennox Samuels|November 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
His first move was to take the straitjacket in his own hands and order me to stand.
A Mind That Found Itself|Clifford Whittingham Beers
The next minute he was pinned, handcuffed, and in a straitjacket, after crippling one assailant with a kick on the knee.
Hard Cash|Charles Reade

The straitjacket which German idealism has provided is certainly far too narrow even for the varieties of human imagination.
Character and Opinion in the United States|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
Some said that I ought to be put into a straitjacket, for I was undoubtedly mad to think of such a thing.
The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52|Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe
Then she takes out the straitjacket and goes behind the chair.
Plays: The Father; Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger|August Strindberg

British Dictionary definitions for straitjacket

straitjacket

/ (ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt) /

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

Medicine definitions for straitjacket

straitjacket

n.

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