Constraint

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           Long imprisonment and hard constraint.   --Spenser.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Not by constraint, but by my choice, I came. --Dryden.
  
     Syn: Compulsion; violence; necessity; urgency.
  
     Usage: {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.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  constraint
       n 1: the state of being physically constrained; "dogs should be
            kept under restraint" [syn: {restraint}]
       2: a device that retards something's motion; "the car did not
          have proper restraints fitted" [syn: {restraint}]
       3: the act of constraining; the threat or use of force to
          control the thoughts or behavior of others

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  169 Moby Thesaurus words for "constraint":
     abnegation, abstinence, aloofness, aplomb, arrest, arrestation,
     backwardness, bashfulness, blankness, caging, calm, calmness,
     check, chilliness, circumscription, coaction, coercion, coldness,
     composure, compulsion, compulsiveness, confinement, conservatism,
     continence, control, cool, cooling, cooling down, cooling off,
     coolness, cramp, curb, curtailment, deceleration, denial,
     detachment, discipline, discreetness, discretion, dispassion,
     distance, drive, driving, duress, enforcement, evenness, exigency,
     expressionlessness, forbearance, forcing, frigidity, frostiness,
     frugality, gentleness, goad, golden mean, guardedness,
     happy medium, hindrance, iciness, impartiality, impassiveness,
     impassivity, impelling, impersonality, impoundment, impulse,
     impulsion, inaccessibility, independence, inevitability,
     inhibition, injunction, interdict, introversion, irresistibility,
     judiciousness, juste-milieu, legal restraint, lenity, lockup,
     meden agan, middle way, mildness, moderateness, moderation,
     moderationism, modesty, monopoly, motive, necessity, neutrality,
     nonviolence, nothing in excess, obligation, obligement, pacifism,
     penning, pinch, possession, press, pressure, prohibition,
     protection, protectionism, protective tariff, prudence, push,
     rash impulse, rationing, rein, remoteness, renouncement,
     renunciation, repose, repression, reserve, reservedness, restraint,
     restraint of trade, restriction, retardation, reticence, reticency,
     retirement, retiring disposition, retrenchment, self-abnegation,
     self-command, self-conquest, self-control, self-denial,
     self-discipline, self-government, self-mastery, self-possession,
     self-restraint, serenity, slowing down, soberness, sobriety,
     sophrosyne, spring, spur, stability, standoffishness, steadiness,
     stress, subduedness, suppression, tariff wall, temperance,
     temperateness, thought control, tranquillity, unaffability,
     unapproachability, uncongeniality, undemonstrativeness,
     unexcessiveness, unexpansiveness, unextravagance, unextremeness,
     urge, urgency, via media, violence, withdrawal, withdrawnness
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  constraint
       
           A {Boolean} {relation}, often an
          equality or {ineqality} relation, between the values of one or
          more mathematical variables (often two).  E.g. x>3 is a
          constraint on x.  {constraint satisfaction} attempts to assign
          values to variables so that all constraints are true.
       
          {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.constraints}.  {FAQ
          (http://www.cs.unh.edu/ccc/archive/)}.
       
          (2002-06-08)
       
       

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CONSTRAINT. In the civil and Scottish law, by this term is understood what, 
  in the common law, is known by the name of duress. 
       2. It is a general rule, that when one is compelled into a contract, 
  there is no effectual consent, though, ostensibly, there is the form of it. 
  In such case the contract will be declared void. 
       3. The constraint requisite thus to annul a contract, must be a vis aut 
  me us qui cadet in constantem virum, such as would shake a man of firmness 
  and resolution. 3 Ersk. 1, Sec. 16; and 4, 1, Sec. 26; 1 Bell's Conn. B. 3, 
  part 1, o. 1, s. 1, art. 1, page 295.