constraint
noun OPAL W
  /kənˈstreɪnt/
  /kənˈstreɪnt/
- [countable] a thing that limits something, or limits your freedom to do something synonym restriction
- constraints of time/money/space
 - financial/economic/legal/political constraints
 - constraint on something This decision will impose serious constraints on all schools.
 
Synonyms limitlimit- restriction
 - control
 - constraint
 - restraint
 - limitation
 
- limit the greatest or smallest amount of something that is allowed:
- The EU has set strict limits on pollution levels.
 - the speed limit
 
 - restriction (rather formal) a rule or law that limits what you can do:
- There are no restrictions on the amount of money you can withdraw.
 
 - control (often in compounds) the act of limiting or managing something; a method of doing this:
- arms control
 
 - constraint (rather formal) a fact or decision that limits what you can do:
- We have to work within severe constraints of time and money.
 
 - restraint (rather formal) a decision, a rule, an idea, etc. that limits what you can do; the act of limiting something because it is necessary or sensible to do so:
- The government has imposed export restraints on some products.
 - The unions are unlikely to accept any sort of wage restraint.
 
 - limitation the act or process of limiting something; a rule, fact or condition that limits something:
- They would resist any limitation of their powers.
 
 
- limits/restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints/limitations on something
 - limits/limitations to something
 - severe limits/restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints/limitations
 - tight limits/restrictions/controls/constraints
 - to impose/remove limits/restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints/limitations
 - to lift restrictions/controls/constraints/restraints
 
Extra Examples- The government has placed tight constraints on spending this year.
 - There are major financial constraints on all schools.
 - We have to work within severe constraints.
 - We are severely limited by legal and political constraints.
 
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- important
 - major
 - severe
 - …
 
- impose
 - place
 - put
 - …
 
- within a/the constraint
 - without constraint
 - constraint on
 - …
 
 - [uncountable] strict control over the way that you behave or are allowed to behave
- At last we could relax and talk without constraint.
 
 
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘coercion’): from Old French constreinte, feminine past participle of constraindre, from Latin constringere ‘bind tightly together’.