constrain
English
Etymology
From Middle English constreinen, from Old French constreindre, from Latin cōnstringō, from cōn- (“with, together”) + stringō (“to draw, bind or tie tight”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to stroke, to shear, stiff”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kənˈstɹeɪn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪn
- Hyphenation: con‧strain
Verb
constrain (third-person singular simple present constrains, present participle constraining, simple past and past participle constrained)
- (transitive) To force physically, by strong persuasion or pressuring; to compel; to oblige.
- (transitive) To keep within close bounds; to confine.
- 2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 23:
- But it's not just Castlefield Corridor capacity that constrains services. All the junctions on the lines feeding into the corridor are flat, so they create conflict points as trains pass.
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- (transitive) To reduce a result in response to limited resources.
Derived terms
- constrainable
- constrainer
- constraintive
- overconstrain
- unconstrain
Related terms
- constraint
- constrict
- restrain
- strain
Translations
to force; to compel; to oblige
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to keep within close bounds; to confine
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to reduce a result in response to limited resources
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Anagrams
- consarn it, consarnit, introscan, non-racist, nonracist, transonic