constraint
Americannoun
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limitation or restriction.
- Synonyms:
- pressure , obligation , force
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repression of natural feelings and impulses.
to practice constraint.
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unnatural restraint in manner, conversation, etc.; embarrassment.
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something that constrains.
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the act of constraining.
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the condition of being constrained. constrain.
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Linguistics. a restriction on the operation of a linguistic rule or the occurrence of a linguistic construction.
noun
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compulsion, force, or restraint
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repression or control of natural feelings or impulses
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a forced unnatural manner; inhibition
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something that serves to constrain; restrictive condition
social constraints kept him silent
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linguistics any very general restriction on a sentence formation rule
Other Word Forms
- nonconstraint noun
Etymology
Origin of constraint
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English constreinte, from Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of constreindre “to constrain”; constrain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to universal access to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, says WHO.
From BBC
As a pair of academics wrote recently in MIT Sloan Management Review, “The barrier to full automation isn’t raw capability—it’s a stack of human, legal and cultural constraints.”
It also said the efforts "should be complemented by pro-growth structural reforms, including measures to foster more innovation and digitalisation, cut red tape, reduce labour supply constraints... and deepen European economic integration".
From Barron's
This finding strengthens the evidence that cleaner fuels have substantially reduced shipping's impact on cloud properties and provides an important constraint for improving future climate models.
From Science Daily
Countries looking to expand their AI capabilities face constraints, such as procuring sufficient power for data centers.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
