verb (used with object)
- 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.
verb (tr)
- to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force
- to deprive (someone) of liberty, as by imprisonment
- to limit or restrict
v.mid-14c., from stem of Old French restreindre “press, push together; curb, bridle; bandage” (12c.), from Latin restringere “draw back tightly, confine, check” (see restriction). Related: Restrained; restraining. That which we restrain we keep within limits; that which we restrict we keep within certain definite limits; that which we repress we try to put out of existence. [Century Dictionary, 1902]