restraint
/rɪˈstreɪnt
/noun
1 (often restraints) A measure or condition that keeps someone or something under control: decisions are made within the financial restraints of the budget...
- He was legal head of the executive, but nearly all his functions were subject to external restraints and under constant supervision by a council elected at the Diet.
- Making a film is like choosing a set of restraints, and then trying to express yourself within those restraints.
- Physical restraints of stage production limit the narrative range that would be available within a purely verbal medium such as the epic.
1.1 [mass noun] The action of keeping someone or something under control: a policy of restraint in public spending...
- Further, a certain measure of restraint was a condition of sanity amidst the new atmosphere of material abundance.
- Because cows were not separated from their groups for restraint and treatment, the chance of mixing groups was decreased.
- The defendants in this case did not break into any computers - and saying that they did is bad for those who value liberty and prosecutorial restraint.
1.2 [mass noun] Deprivation or restriction of personal liberty or freedom of movement: he remained aggressive and required physical restraint...
- Throughout all of her songs, the same common feeling came through; loss of freedom, restraint, dominance, sorrow.
- And all this just involves the direct restraint on liberty.
- The meeting noted that the Claimant frequently requires physical restraint and at times intra muscular medication.
Synonyms
constraint, check, control, restriction, limitation, curtailment;
rein, bridle, brake, damper, deterrent, hindrance, impediment, obstacle, retardant, inhibition
informal clampdown, wet blanket
confinement, captivity, custody, detention, imprisonment, internment, incarceration, constraint, committal, quarantine, arrest
archaic duress
rare detainment
1.3A device which limits or prevents freedom of movement: car safety restraints...
- This car has some of the best seats available at any price and Saab's active safety head restraints have become an industry standard.
- Tynra tugged at the restraints nailed to the dungeon wall.
- She manages to make a perfectly normal question sound like it's accompanied by a dagger and broken restraints.
Synonyms
belt, harness, strap
2 [mass noun] Unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behaviour; self-control: he urged the protestors to exercise restraint...
- Stone insisted that the judiciary should exercise restraint and recognize the need for the legislative and executive branches to respond to the Great Depression.
- She admired Em's self-control and emotional restraint, yes, but Mona didn't want to be like Em.
- As general and president, he employed the power available to him but with moderation and restraint.
Synonyms
self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline, control, moderation, temperateness, abstemiousness, non-indulgence, prudence, judiciousness
reserve, self-restraint, self-control, self-possession, lack of emotion, sobriety, coldness, formality, aloofness, detachment, reticence, uncommunicativeness
2.1Understatement, especially of artistic expression: with strings and piano, all restraint vanished...
- This replaced the open emotional force and physical excitement of ‘hot’ jazz with deliberate understatement and restraint.
- Unencumbered by stylistic restraint, the paintings, prints and drawings present a visionary social realm, freed from the conventions of naturalist description.
- Her poems are notable for a restraint of expression combined with a powerful and passionate content which distinguish her from many of her Georgian contemporaries.
Synonyms
subtlety, mutedness, understatedness, taste, tastefulness, delicacy, delicateness, discretion, discrimination
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French restreinte, feminine past participle of restreindre 'hold back' (see restrain).