CONSTRAINED • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Constrained

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/kənstrˈeɪnd/ Listen

verb

Constrain v. t. (past & past part. constrained; pres. part. constraining)

To secure by bonds; to chain; to bond or confine; to hold tightly; to constringe. "He binds in chains The drowsy prophet, and his limbs constrains." "When winter frosts constrain the fields with cold."

To bring into a narrow compass; to compress. "How the strait stays the slender waist constrain."

To hold back by force; to restrain; to repress. "My sire in caves constrains the winds."

To compel; to force; to necessitate; to oblige. "The love of Christ constraineth us." "I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar."

To violate; to ravish. (Obs.)

To produce in such a manner as to give an unnatural effect; as, a constrained voice.

Synonyms: To compel; force; drive; impel; urge; press.

adjective

Constrained adj. Marked by constraint; not free; not voluntary; embarrassed; as, a constrained manner; a constrained tone.

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Etymology of 'Constrained'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Constrained" Quotes from Famous Books

... dearest mother, that of late, my letters have been more constrained and less cheerful than usual, and you conjure me not to conceal from you any thing which may concern my happiness. I have ever found you my best and most indulgent friend, and there is not a thought or feeling of my mind, however ...

— Tales And Novels, Vol. 8 • Maria Edgeworth

... and space and matter have been already conquered to such an extent that our globe, once so seemingly vast, has virtually shrunken to the dimensions of an ancient province; and manifold peoples of divers tongues and traditions and customs and institutions are now constrained to live together as in a single community. There is thus demanded a new ethical wisdom, a new legal wisdom, a new economical wisdom, a new political wisdom, a new wisdom in the affairs of government. For the new visions our anguished times cry aloud but the only answers are reverberated ...

— Manhood of Humanity. • Alfred Korzybski

... have propagated immorality and corruption, if the Government had not taken in good time means to prevent such a sad result. A house was founded in the early days of the settlement for the reception of young girls whose parents were too poor and too constrained in their circumstances at the commencement of their sojourn there to be able to devote much care to them; while if parents, when emancipated, so conduct themselves that their example or their course of life is likely to have ...

— The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders • Ernest Scott

... from the scene of butchery as rapidly as they were able. After the officers had retired to their cabins, the rough-featured sailors gathered before the mast, and loud and bitter were the curses they uttered against slavery and against those officers of government who had then constrained them to murder women and helpless children, merely ...

— Autographs for Freedom, Volume 2 (of 2) (1854) • Various

... be said for those starving men and women, who are making so heroic a fight for the right to live. Altogether, the situation was awkward and even distressing. The House, divided between the desire to remain neutral and to be sympathetic, was puzzled, constrained, and silent. It was at this moment that Mr. Lockwood made a most welcome and appropriate intervention. Gathering together the scattered and somewhat tangled threads of the debate, he put to Mr. Mundella several pertinent questions—among others, the very relevant one, whether or not ...

— Sketches In The House (1893) • T. P. O'Connor

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