CONSTRAINED • DICCIONARIO INGLES.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

... supposed) were weary of their Lives, and that he thought it proper for them to be carryed to the Parish from whence they came, and that the Parish should be charged with their Maintainance; for he thought their oppressing Poverty had constrained them to wish for Death." Unhappily the neighbors made such an outcry that the women were found guilty and sentenced. This is from a later and somewhat untrustworthy account, but it fits in well with what North says of the case. The Life ...

— A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 • Wallace Notestein

... upon his care and obliged to take up with his company. It was very disagreeable. Mr. Carleton she saw almost as constantly, but though frequently near she had never much to do with him. There seemed to be a dividing atmosphere always in the way; and whenever he did speak to her she felt miserably constrained and unable to appear like herself. Why was it?—she asked herself in a very vexed state of mind. No doubt partly from the remembrance of that overheard conversation which she could not help applying, but much more from an indefinable sense that ...

— Queechy • Susan Warner

... wrong occasion! Really, this unhappy blunder extorts from me as many tears of laughter as ever poverty extorted from Pope. Meantime, reader, watch what follows. Wounded so deeply in his feelings by this constrained homage to poverty, Pope finds himself unable to resettle the equilibrium in his nervous system until he has taken out his revenge by an extra kicking administered to some old mendicant or vagrant lying in ...

— Theological Essays and Other Papers v2 • Thomas de Quincey

... also themselves commit the very same folly. I have met persons who utterly refuse to listen to any view concerning the origin of man other than that of a perfect primaeval pair in a garden, and I am constrained to say this much: Take heed lest some prophet, after having excited your indignation at the follies and bigotry of a bygone generation, does not turn upon you with the ...

— Pioneers of Science • Oliver Lodge

... as follows: The animal is disinclined to move actively, the step is restricted and cautious, sudden motion causes grunting, the attitude is constrained, the feet are drawn somewhat together, the back is arched, the face has an anxious expression. If the disease is of several days' standing, there is likely to be soft swelling (edema) beneath the neck, in the dewlap, and under ...

— Special Report on Diseases of Cattle • U.S. Department of Agriculture

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