straitjacket

or straight·jack·et

[streyt-jak-it]

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.

Origin of straitjacket

First recorded in 1805–15; strait + jacket

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

Related Words for straitjacket

embargo, restriction, constraint, prohibition, reduction, limit, ban, curb, cramp, weight, imprisonment, obstruction, obstacle, decrease, interdict, check, stoppage, repression, arrest, impediment

Examples from the Web for straitjacket

Contemporary Examples of 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
“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

Historical Examples of straitjacket

His arms were inserted in the long, closed sleeves of the straitjacket.
The Adventurous Life of a Versatile Artist: Houdini
Harry Houdini
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
Then she takes out the straitjacket and goes behind the chair.
Plays: The Father; Countess Julie; The Outlaw; The Stronger
August Strindberg
You ought to be put in a straitjacket and drenched with cold water.
The Shuttle
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Finally even the old nurse is induced to betray him: she slips the straitjacket over him, adding the last touch to the treachery.
The Social Significance of the Modern Drama
Emma Goldman

British Dictionary definitions for 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

straitjacket in Medicine

straitjacket

n.

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