to hold back from action; keep in check or under control; repress: to restrain one's temper.
to deprive of liberty, as by arrest or the like.
to limit or hamper the activity, growth, or effect of: to restrain trade with Cuba.
Origin of restrain
1350–1400; Middle English restreynen<Middle French restreindre<Latin restringere to bind back, bind fast, equivalent to re-re- + stringere to draw together; see strain1
A citizen tried to obtain a restraining order against Officer Matthew Paniagua, who wrote multiple seditious language tickets, and other officers who the man alleged harassed and threatened him, but a judge denied the request, court records show.
Officers Who Wrote Multiple Seditious Language Tickets Have Been Accused of Other Violations|Kara Grant|October 14, 2020|Voice of San Diego
In its article Tuesday, the Daily News and ProPublica report also noted two restraining order applications made by Clarkson’s estranged wife in the 1990s.
Alaska’s Attorney General Resigns Hours After We Published “Uncomfortable” Texts He Sent to a Younger Colleague|by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News|August 25, 2020|ProPublica
Three off-duty cops working as security guards apprehended Saylor and proceeded to restrain him in an ultimately fatal fashion.
Worse Than Eric Garner: Cops Who Got Away With Killing Autistic Men and Little Girls|Emily Shire|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What about allowing a school to manually or "mechanically" restrain students?
Bill Maher Finds the Worst Congressman in America|Ana Marie Cox|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The other detectives had to restrain her to keep her from striking him again.
Meet 'The Queen of Thieves' Marm Mandelbaum, New York City's First Mob Boss|J. North Conway|September 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To some observers, this is a classic Red State action to try to restrain the growth of renewable energy.
Solar Power Burns Old Utilities’ Business Models|Daniel Gross|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After hearing yelling from the back of the plane, a group of other passengers managed to tackle and restrain the unruly Suggs.
Plane-Related Incidents Reach New Level of Weird|Rachel Hochhauser|April 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Seeing them, Avdotya could not restrain her tears; they simply spurted from her red and swollen eyes.
Knock, Knock, Knock and Other Stories|Ivan Turgenev
Marmaduke Denison could not restrain an audible sigh of relief.
Robin Redbreast|Mary Louisa Molesworth
Ostrov and Trirodov managed to restrain him with great difficulty.
The Created Legend|Feodor Sologub
Zulma wrote hers in a large steady hand, but a tear, which she could not restrain, fell upon the letters and blurred them.
The Bastonnais|John Lesperance
Anna came down the hall, evidently trying to restrain a giggle at his dusty appearance.
In the Mist of the Mountains|Ethel Turner
British Dictionary definitions for restrain
restrain
/ (rɪˈstreɪn) /
verb(tr)
to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force
to deprive (someone) of liberty, as by imprisonment
to limit or restrict
Derived forms of restrain
restrainable, adjective
Word Origin for restrain
C14 restreyne, from Old French restreindre, from Latin rēstringere to draw back tightly, from re- + stringere to draw, bind; see strain1