constrain
Syllables: con·strain/kənˈstɹeɪn/
constrain verb: to force physically, by strong persuasion or pressuring; to compel; to oblige.
Verb
constrain (third-person singular simple present constrains, present participle constraining, simple past and past participle constrained)
- To force physically, by strong persuasion or pressuring; to compel; to oblige.
- To keep within close bounds; to confine.
- But it's not just Castlefield Corridor capacity that constrains services. All the junctions on the lines feeding into the corridor are flat, so they create conflict points as trains pass.2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 23
- To reduce a result in response to limited resources.
constrain meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
constrain in Hindi
- to constrain
- जकड़ना jakaṛnā
constrain in Tamil
- தடு, வற்புறுத்து
constrain in Urdu
- بندش لگانا, دخل انداز ہونا, مجبور کرنا, زبردستی کرنا
constrain in Bengali
- বাধ্য করা, দমন করা
More languagesFewer languages
- constrain in Malayalam
- നിർബ്ബന്ധിക്കുക, നിയന്ത്രിക്കുക, ഞെരുക്കുക, ബലംപ്രയോഗിച്ച് ചെയ്യിക്കുക
- constrain in Kannada
- ನಿರ್ಬಂಧಪಡಿಸು, ಕಡ್ಡಾಯಪಡಿಸು, ನಿಯಮಿಸು, ಒತ್ತಾಯಿಸು
Examples of constrain in a sentence
- A knot can be defined as a non-self-intersecting broken line whose endpoints coincide: when such a knot is constrained to lie in a plane, then it is simply a polygon.
- We should be encouraging and supporting expensive bi-mode freight locomotives, especially where capacity is constrained.
- The user's feet are constrained on the soleplate by the toe band (h).
Forms of constrain
| third-person singular present | constrains |
|---|---|
| present participle | constraining |
| past participle | constrained |
| past | constrained |
Origin of constrain
From Middle English constreinen, from Old French constreindre, from Latin cōnstringō, from cōn- (“with, together”) + stringō (“to draw, bind or tie tight”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to stroke, to shear, stiff”).
Words formed from constrain
Words that rhyme with constrain
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- drain
- pane
- gain
- main
- sustain
- vein
- entertain
- skein
- Wayne
- abstain
- bane
- campaign
- champagne
- crane
- entrain
- fain
- insane
- maine
- pain
- plane
- stain
- wane
- Aquitaine
- ascertain
- chicane
- contain
- detain
- explain
- maintain
- mundane
- obtain
- refrain
- remain
- vane
- amain
- arcane
- Blaine
- complain
- deign
- detrain
- distrain
- kane
- ordain
- pertain
- profane
- public domain
- reign
- swain
Questions about constrain
- What does constrain mean?
- Constrain means to force physically, by strong persuasion or pressuring; to compel; to oblige.
- What is constrain in Hindi?
- Constrain in Hindi is जकड़ना (jakaṛnā). See Constrain meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is constrain?
- Constrain is a verb.
- How do you pronounce constrain?
- Constrain is pronounced /kənˈstɹeɪn/.
- What is the past tense of constrain?
- The past tense of constrain is constrained.
Words near constrain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: constrain (page history and authors); जकड़ना (Hindi) (page history and authors); constrain (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); constrain (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); constrain (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); constrain (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); constrain (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-constrain.ogg.
Cite this entry: “constrain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/constrain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.