CONSTRAINED • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... that we cannot altogether pass over them; though a hint or two with regard to the mode of learning their declension is all that we can here afford to give. We are constrained now and then to leave out a good deal of valuable matter, for the reason that induced the Dublin manager to omit the part of Hamlet in the play of that name— the ...

— The Comic Latin Grammar - A new and facetious introduction to the Latin tongue • Percival Leigh

... something will escape, something will defy their most careful examination. It is not disrespectful to his memory to claim that Ibsen sometimes packed his stuff too closely. Criticism, when it marvels most at the wonder of his genius, is constrained to believe that he sometimes threw too much of his soul into his composition, that he did not stand far enough away from it always to command its general effect. The result, especially in the later symbolical plays, is too vibratory, and excites ...

— Henrik Ibsen • Edmund Gosse

... And when he and Dorothy met, he bowed low before her, and she courtesied and he bade her good-day quite clearly, and she murmured a response with pretty, prim lips; and they would have passed on had not both, as if constrained by hands of force upon their necks, raised their faces and looked of a sudden into each other eyes with that same old look which they had exchanged in the ...

— Madelon - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

... said in her cold constrained way. "It is very princely of you, and yet it does not touch me in the least. You made the bargain with your eyes open; I told you at the time that I could never care for you; that I sold myself to save my father's good name. I know the situation is not a new one; I know that such marriages, strange ...

— The Slave of Silence • Fred M. White

... Duty and inclination constrained me to find out what were the states and moods of all the bays and coves of all the isles; the location and form of rocks and reefs; the character of shrubs and trees; the nature of the jungle-covered hilltops; the features ...

— The Confessions of a Beachcomber • E J Banfield

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