constraint
noun /kənˈstreɪnt/Definition
C2 [C] something that controls what you do by keeping you within particular limits: The constraints of politeness wouldn't allow her to say what she really thought about his cooking. Financial constraints on the company are preventing them from employing new staff.Limiting and restrictingPreventing and impeding › [U] formal unnatural behaviour that is sometimes the result of forcing yourself to act in a particular way: She tried to appear friendly, but her constraint was obvious.Self-control and moderation under constraint formal › If you do something under constraint, you do it only because you have been forced to: They confessed, but only under severe constraint.Duty, obligation and responsibility
(Definition of constraint noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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Synonyms and related words:
- accountable adjective
- answer for sb/sth phrasal verb
- answer for sth phrasal verb
- answer to sb phrasal verb
- answerable adjective
- commitment noun
- fail noun 2
- had better/best do sth idiom
- hat noun
- have sth on your hands idiom
- I am not my brother's keeper idiom
- in the hot seat idiom
- owe sb a living idiom
- pass the buck idiom
- pay your dues idiom
- portfolio noun (JOB)
- preserve noun (ACTIVITY)
- purview noun
- remit noun
- shoulder noun (RESPONSIBILITY)
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