constrain

[kuh n-streyn] /kənˈstreɪn/

verb (used with object)

to force, compel, or oblige:

He was constrained to admit the offense.

to confine forcibly, as by bonds.

to repress or restrain:

Cold weather constrained the plant's growth.

Origin

1275-1325; Middle English constrei(g)nen < Anglo-French, Middle French constrei(g)n- (stem of constreindre) < Latin constringere. See con-, strain¹

Related forms

constrainable, adjective

constrainer, noun

constrainingly, adverb

nonconstraining, adjective

unconstrainable, adjective

unconstraining, adjective

Can be confused

coerce, compel, constrain, force, oblige (see synonym study at oblige)

Synonyms

1. coerce. 2. check, bind.

Antonyms

2. free.

Examples from the web for constrain

They may be my fences, but they constrain me as surely as they constrain the horses.
These ingredients limit the chemical reactions that can happen inside cells and so constrain what life can do.
So it's public regulation to constrain private regulation.
Not only does this constrain the usual hyperbolic marketing.
But this doesn't mean that our genes necessarily constrain our potential for greatness.
Topics include how animals' consumption behavior may constrain or modify plant ontogenetic patterns.
And interest rates in one country constrain those elsewhere more than before.
Before that, ancient waters flowed wide and shallow over the land, with little to constrain them other than mountains.
We also tried to constrain this list to games that will actually come out this year.
Some foreign attempts to constrain press freedom are more understandable than others.

British Dictionary definitions for constrain

constrain

/kənˈstreɪn/

verb (transitive)

to compel or force, esp by persuasion, circumstances, etc; oblige

to restrain by or as if by force; confine

Derived Forms

constrainer, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French constreindre, from Latin constringere to bind together, from stringere to bind

Word Origin and History for constrain

early 14c., constreyen, from stem of Old French constreindre (Modern French contraindre) "restrain, control," from Latin constringere "to bind together, tie tightly, fetter, shackle, chain," from com- "together" (see com-) + stringere "to draw tight" (see strain (v.)). Related: Constrained; constraining.