constrain

constrain is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 7 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.To bring into a narrow compass; to compress. How the strait stays the slender waist constrain. Gay.
  2. 2.To hold back by force; to restrain; to repress. My sire in caves constrains the winds. Dryden.
  3. 3.To compel; to force; to necessiate; to oblige. The love of Christ constraineth us.
  4. 4.Cor. v.
  5. 5.I was constrained to appeal unto CActs xxviii.
  6. 6.5. To violate; to ravish. [Obs.] Shak.
  7. 7.To produce in such a manner as to give an unnatural effet; as, a constrained voice.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Synonyms (Webster's 1913)

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is constrain.

Sources