3. To hold back by force; to restrain; to repress.
My sire in caves constrains the winds.
Dryden.
4. To compel; to force; to necessitate; to oblige.
The love of Christ constraineth us.
2. Cor. v. 14.
I was constrained to appeal unto Cæsar.
Acts xxviii. 19.
5. To violate; to ravish. [Obs.] Shak.
6. To produce in such a manner as to give an unnatural effect; as, a constrained voice.
Syn. — To compel; force; drive; impel; urge; press.
Constrainable
(Con*strain"a*ble) a. [Cf. OF. constraignable, F. contraignable.] Capable of being
constrained; liable to constraint, or to restraint. Hooker.
Constrained
(Con*strained") a. Marked by constraint; not free; not voluntary; embarrassed; as, a constrained
manner; a constrained tone.
Constrainedly
(Con*strain"ed*ly) adv. By constraint or compulsion; in a constrained manner. Hooker.
Constrainer
(Con*strain"er) n. One who constrains.
Constraint
(Con*straint") n. [OF. constrainte, F. constrainte.] The act of constraining, or the state of
being constrained; that which compels to, or restrains from, action; compulsion; restraint; necessity.
Long imprisonment and hard constraint.
Spenser.
Not by constraint, but by my choice, I came.
Dryden.
Syn. — Compulsion; violence; necessity; urgency. — Constraint, Compulsion. Constraint implies strong
binding force; as, the constraint of necessity; the constraint of fear. Compulsion implies the exertion of
some urgent impelling force; as, driven by compulsion. The former prevents us from acting agreeably
to our wishes; the latter forces us to act contrary to our will. Compulsion is always produced by some
active agent; a constraint may be laid upon us by the forms of civil society, or by other outward circumstances.
Crabb.
Constraintive
(Con*straint"ive) a. Constraining; compulsory. [R.] "Any constraintive vow." R. Carew.
Constrict
(Con*strict") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Constricted; p. pr. & vb. n. Constricting.] [L. constrictus,
p. p. of constringere. See Constrain.] To draw together; to render narrower or smaller; to bind; to cramp; to
contract or cause to shrink.
Such things as constrict the fibers.
Arbuthnot.
Membranous organs inclosing a cavity which their contraction serves to constrict.
Todd & Bowman.
Constricted
(Con*strict"ed), a.
1. Drawn together; bound; contracted; cramped.
2. (Bot.) Contracted or compressed so as to be smaller in certain places or parts than in others.
Constriction
(Con*stric"tion) n. [L. constrictio: cf. F. constriction.]
