constraints

Noun

constraint (countable and uncountable, plural constraints)

1. Something that constrains; a restriction.
   • An engineer must recognize the difference between a constraint (to work within) and a problem (to be eliminated via resolution).
2. An irresistible force or compulsion.
   • They confessed, but only under severe constraint.
3. The repression of one's feelings.
   • Although his blood so rose against this man, and his wrath so stirred within him, that he could have struck him dead, he put such fierce constraint upon himself that he passed him without a word or look. Yes, and he would have gone on, and not turned, though to resist the Devil who poured such hot...1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. (please specify the chapter number)”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
4. A condition that a solution to an optimization problem must satisfy.
5. A linkage or other restriction that maintains database integrity.