Restrain \Re*strain"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Restrained; p. pr.
& vb. n. Restraining.] [OE. restreinen, F. restreindre, fr.
L. restringere, restrictum; pref. re- re- + stringere to
draw, bind, or press together. See Strain, v. t., and cf.
Restrict.]
1. To draw back again; to hold back from acting, proceeding,
or advancing, either by physical or moral force, or by any
interposing obstacle; to repress or suppress; to keep
down; to curb.
[1913 Webster]
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose! --Shak.
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2. To draw back toghtly, as a rein. [Obs.] --Shak.
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3. To hinder from unlimited enjoiment; to abridge.
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Though they two were committed, at least restrained
of their liberty. --Clarendon.
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4. To limit; to confine; to restrict. --Trench.
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Not only a metaphysical or natural, but a moral,
universality also is to be restrained by a part of
the predicate. --I. Watts.
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5. To withhold; to forbear.
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Thou restrained prayer before God. --Job. xv. 4.
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Syn: To check; hinder; stop; withhold; repress; curb;
suppress; coerce; restrict; limit; confine.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
restrained
adj 1: cool and formal in manner [syn: reserved, reticent, unemotional]
2: under restraint [ant: unrestrained]
3: marked by avoidance of extravagance or extremes; "moderate
in his demands"; "restrained in his response" [syn: moderate]
4: not showy or obtrusive; "clothes in quiet good taste" [syn:
quiet]
5: free from ostentation or pretension; "the restrained
elegance of the room" [syn: modest, unostentatious]
6: prudent; "guarded optimism" [syn: guarded]
WordNet (r) 2.0
156 Moby Thesaurus words for "restrained":
Attic, Ciceronian, Olympian, aesthetic, aloof, arrested, artistic,
aseptic, backward, barred, bashful, beleaguered, beset, besieged,
blank, blockaded, bound, bridled, cabined, caged, chaste,
chastened, chilled, chilly, choice, classic, clear, cloistered,
closed-in, cold, confined, constrained, controlled, cool, cooped,
cordoned, cordoned off, corralled, cramped, cribbed, curbed,
detached, direct, discreet, distant, easy, elegant, enclosed,
excellent, expressionless, fenced, finished, forbidding, frigid,
frosty, frugal, graceful, gracile, guarded, hedged, hemmed, hushed,
icy, immured, impassive, impersonal, imprisoned, in check,
in control, in good taste, in hand, in leading strings,
in remission, inaccessible, incarcerated, incommunicable,
inhibited, introverted, jailed, leaguered, limited, limpid, lucid,
measured, mewed, moderate, modest, natural, neat, noncommittal,
of choice, of quality, offish, on leash, paled, pellucid, penned,
pent-up, perspicuous, plain, pleasing, polished, pure, quarantined,
quelled, quiet, railed, reasonable, refined, remote, removed,
repressed, reserved, retarded, reticent, retiring, round,
shrinking, shut-in, simple, slowed down, sober, softened, sparing,
stable, standoff, standoffish, stinting, straightforward, subdued,
suppressed, tasteful, tasty, temperate, tempered, terse, trim,
unaffable, unaffected, unapproachable, uncongenial,
undemonstrative, under control, under discipline, under restraint,
understated, unexcessive, unexpansive, unextreme, ungenial,
unlabored, unobtrusive, walled, walled-in, well-chosen,
withdrawn
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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