restrain
Americanverb (used with object)
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restrains,
present (3rd person singular)
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restrained,
past participle, past
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restraining
present participle
verb
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to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force
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to deprive (someone) of liberty, as by imprisonment
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to limit or restrict
Synonym Usage
See check 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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restrainabilitynoun
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overrestrainverb (used with object)
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prerestrainverb (used with object)
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restrainableadjective
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unrestrainableadjective
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restraininglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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restrainsimple
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restrainssimple
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have restrainedperfect
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has restrainedperfect
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am restrainingprogressive
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are restrainingprogressive
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is restrainingprogressive
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have been restrainingperfect progressive
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has been restrainingperfect progressive
Past
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restrainedsimple
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had restrainedperfect
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was restrainingprogressive
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were restrainingprogressive
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had been restrainingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
Restrain means to hold yourself back, which is exactly what you'd have to do if, after weeks of dieting, you found yourself face to face with a dessert case filled with pies, cakes, and cookies. Restrain can also mean to restrict or hold back someone else, to prevent someone from doing what they're intending to do. Prison guards have to restrain a prisoner who is trying to attack one of his fellow inmates. That prisoner might even be put in handcuffs — a kind of restraint. You can restrain yourself, for example if you're watching a Broadway show and suddenly feel the urge to sing along. Your fellow audience members would be grateful for your restraint, especially if you've got a terrible voice.
Vocabulary lists containing restrain
List 10
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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.
See Examples For:
It may also alter the immune environment around the tumor in a way that helps the immune system attack or restrain the cancer.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer described the new rules as “modest measures that will help prevent and restrain potential gross abuses of the mails to perpetrate a fraud on the Nation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
South Korea’s headline inflation moderated in July after reaching a 30-month high in June, as government measures partly helped restrain fuel and electricity prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
South Korea’s headline inflation moderated in July after reaching a 30-month high in June, partly because government measures helped restrain fuel and electricity prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Cluny could scarcely restrain himself from leaping for it.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Ultimately, the goal is growth that is less dependent on leverage combined with regulation that restrains excess without choking activity.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026
Russia’s central bank Friday lowered its key interest rate for a fifth straight meeting, but said it will continue to keep borrowing costs at a level that restrains activity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
More aggressive fine print restrains other follies like the bond portfolio mismatches that undid California-based Silicon Valley Bank two years ago, says Davide Oneglia, director of European and global macro at TS Lombard.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
The order restrains the defendants from granting access to Treasury Department records containing personally identifiable or confidential information to special government employees, political appointees, and other employees from outside the department.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025
This restrains male aggression and enables humans selectively to control the herd’s procreation.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Instead they must be restrained through policies and laws, she said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Lucas could probably fill an entire museum with what he’s stored from his six “Star Wars” features, but he’s restrained himself to one gallery and one theme: vehicles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Rubner, meanwhile, took note of the lull in the earnings-report calendar, the typically restrained activity by retail investors during September and the pre-earnings blackout period that will block corporate share buybacks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
In theory, going public should be the moment when A.I. companies start talking in slightly more restrained terms so that they aren’t sitting ducks for prosecution and civil suits.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
The bears were curious, but restrained by their respect for Iorek Byrnison, and his for Lyra, and she put them out of her mind and sank again into the alethiometric trance.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Hirst also made a restraining order which prevents McEvoy contacting the children.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Because pacing isn’t stopping, or even necessarily slowing but . . . might be restraining?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Here’s how the restraining order process is supposed to work — and the pitfalls that prevent many applications from moving forward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
County Superior Court data found that just 21% of requests for restraining orders are granted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
She is tired, her face looking numb, like she has no energy to express anything, but still I can tell she is restraining herself from talking; she is letting Father do most of it.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
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.
