Constrain
verb
To limit or restrict someone or something.
The company's growth is being constrained by lack of capital.
Often appears as...
- constrain growth
- constrain development
verb
To control or influence something forcefully.
Critics argue that this policy may constrain free speech.
Often appears as...
- constrain free speech
- constrain choice
verb
To compel or force someone towards a particular course of action.
Financial difficulties have constrained him to give up his sports career.
Often appears as...
- constrain someone to do something
- constrain action
verb
In mathematics or science, to limit the variables in an experiment or equation.
In order to solve the equation, we need to constrain the variables.
Often appears as...
- constrain variables
- constrain parameters
Usage tips
Technical
verb
To limit or restrict someone or something.
The company's growth is being constrained by lack of capital.
Often appears as...
- constrain growth
- constrain development
verb
To control or influence something forcefully.
Critics argue that this policy may constrain free speech.
Often appears as...
- constrain free speech
- constrain choice
verb
To compel or force someone towards a particular course of action.
Financial difficulties have constrained him to give up his sports career.
Often appears as...
- constrain someone to do something
- constrain action
verb
In mathematics or science, to limit the variables in an experiment or equation.
In order to solve the equation, we need to constrain the variables.
Often appears as...
- constrain variables
- constrain parameters
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/2Beyond Physical
Constrain also applies to intangible factors, not just physical limitations.
Lack of experience may constrain someone's job prospects.
Pro Tip 2/2Impersonal Structures
Often used with passive or impersonal subjects emphasizing the constraining factor.
It is regulations that constrain their activities, not resources.
Pro Tip 1/2Beyond Physical
Constrain also applies to intangible factors, not just physical limitations.
Lack of experience may constrain someone's job prospects.
Pro Tip 2/2Impersonal Structures
Often used with passive or impersonal subjects emphasizing the constraining factor.
It is regulations that constrain their activities, not resources.
Pro Tip 1/2Beyond Physical
Constrain also applies to intangible factors, not just physical limitations.
Lack of experience may constrain someone's job prospects.
Pro Tip 2/2Impersonal Structures
Often used with passive or impersonal subjects emphasizing the constraining factor.
It is regulations that constrain their activities, not resources.
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Video examples
Making sense of...
we interested is constraining the amount of dark matter in the universe that's on the x-axis and the amount of dark energy on the universe that's on the y-axis everything within one of these ellipses is this is indistinguishable from one model from the other and so we want to make those ellipses as small as possible
Video examples
Is our universe the only...
scales there are additional dimensions crumpled to a tiny size so small that we have not detected them but even though the dimensions are hidden they would have an impact on things that we can observe because the shape of the extra dimensions constrains how the strings can vibrate
Video examples
There's more to life...
It helps you understand how you became you. But we don't always realize that we're the authors of our stories and can change the way we're telling them. Your life isn't just a list of events. You can edit, interpret and retell your story, even as you're constrained by the facts.
Video examples
The greatest mathematicia...
Their systematic approach to abstract principles was in stark contrast to the popular belief that math was an intuitive science, and an over-dependence on logic constrained creativity. But this rebellious band of scholars gleefully ignored conventional wisdom.
Video examples
Can we create new senses...
is constrained by our biology, and that goes against the common sense notion that our eyes and our ears and our fingertips are just picking up the objective reality that's out there. Instead, our brains are sampling just a little bit of the world.
Video examples
Why is our universe...
But even though the dimensions are hidden, they would have an impact on things that we can observe because the shape of the extra dimensions constrains how the strings can vibrate. And in string theory, vibration determines everything.
Video examples
The dawn of the age of...
Open an application, that's an effect. Now when we compare this to our physical universe, it is overly constraining, because our universe is not digital. Our universe is analog. Our universe doesn't think in terms of zero or one,
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
All of us with stigmatized identities face this question How much to accommodate society by constraining ourselves, and how much to break the limits of what constitutes a valid life? Forging meaning and building identity
Video examples
Shamanistic Potion PIPE...
they extinguish the candles to help us see visions more clearly I'm starting to see things differently that I know there are the things that I can see that they are the constrained people's faces
Video examples
Caged Orangutan Rescued...
now we're gonna wait for user is too big to handle so we really have to sedate him it's really sad constrain your sanity after five minutes equals a week
Video examples
Making sense of...
we interested is constraining the amount of dark matter in the universe that's on the x-axis and the amount of dark energy on the universe that's on the y-axis everything within one of these ellipses is this is indistinguishable from one model from the other and so we want to make those ellipses as small as possible
Video examples
Is our universe the only...
scales there are additional dimensions crumpled to a tiny size so small that we have not detected them but even though the dimensions are hidden they would have an impact on things that we can observe because the shape of the extra dimensions constrains how the strings can vibrate
Video examples
There's more to life...
It helps you understand how you became you. But we don't always realize that we're the authors of our stories and can change the way we're telling them. Your life isn't just a list of events. You can edit, interpret and retell your story, even as you're constrained by the facts.
Video examples
The greatest mathematicia...
Their systematic approach to abstract principles was in stark contrast to the popular belief that math was an intuitive science, and an over-dependence on logic constrained creativity. But this rebellious band of scholars gleefully ignored conventional wisdom.
Video examples
Can we create new senses...
is constrained by our biology, and that goes against the common sense notion that our eyes and our ears and our fingertips are just picking up the objective reality that's out there. Instead, our brains are sampling just a little bit of the world.
Video examples
Why is our universe...
But even though the dimensions are hidden, they would have an impact on things that we can observe because the shape of the extra dimensions constrains how the strings can vibrate. And in string theory, vibration determines everything.
Video examples
The dawn of the age of...
Open an application, that's an effect. Now when we compare this to our physical universe, it is overly constraining, because our universe is not digital. Our universe is analog. Our universe doesn't think in terms of zero or one,
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
All of us with stigmatized identities face this question How much to accommodate society by constraining ourselves, and how much to break the limits of what constitutes a valid life? Forging meaning and building identity
Video examples
Shamanistic Potion PIPE...
they extinguish the candles to help us see visions more clearly I'm starting to see things differently that I know there are the things that I can see that they are the constrained people's faces
Video examples
Caged Orangutan Rescued...
now we're gonna wait for user is too big to handle so we really have to sedate him it's really sad constrain your sanity after five minutes equals a week
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Julian Assange
Australian Activist
I saw that publishing all over the world was deeply constrained by self-censorship, economics and political censorship, while the military-industrial complex was growing at a tremendous rate, and the amount of information that it was collecting about all of us vastly exceeded the public imagination.
Quote examples
Jenova Chen
Chinese Designer
When I was a teenager, I felt my life was constrained by rules, school, my parents. I wanted to feel like I was empowered and different; that's why superheroes, comics, manga, and video games filled my needs. When I got older, I realized power is not free; it comes with responsibility.
Quote examples
Tony Robinson
English Actor
As a child actor, you haven't been allowed to be yourself for most of your life; you've been constrained by the demands of your job, your parents, directors. A fictional or amplified version of you exists, but when you're 17, you can't have a debate with yourself about authenticity.
Quote examples
Robert Smith
English Musician
Apart from the fact that I've got a strange job, I do lead a fairly normal life. I do my own shopping. I don't feel constrained by who I am because of what I do; I often feel disappointed by my lack of ability. I get frustrated at myself, but I think everyone does.
Quote examples
Lawrence Summers
American Economist
But ultimately what I was impressed by during my years in government was how much the intellectual climate and the prevailing intellectual notions constrained and represented the universe within which the discourse took place.
Quote examples
Dean Ornish
American Educator
Whether you're six or sixty, if you go on a diet and lifestyle program and feel constrained, you're likely to go off it sooner or later. Offering a spectrum of choices is much more effective; then, you feel free and empowered.
Quote examples
Margaret MacMillan
Canadian Historian
Women are interested in relationships and how other societies manage those relationships. They may have been constrained in what roles were open to them, but they could question and observe, and they could write it down.
Quote examples
Gail Collins
American Journalist
Sarah Palin is an heir to the women's movement. She has not been constrained by gender. At no point in her life has she thought, 'I can't do that because I'm a woman.
Quote examples
Robert Grosseteste
English Statesman
And as far as possible for sickness or fatigue, constrain yourself to eat in the hall before your people, for this shall bring great benefit and honour to you.
Quote examples
Bjarne Stroustrup
Danish Scientist
I find languages that support just one programming paradigm constraining.
Quote examples
Julian Assange
Australian Activist
I saw that publishing all over the world was deeply constrained by self-censorship, economics and political censorship, while the military-industrial complex was growing at a tremendous rate, and the amount of information that it was collecting about all of us vastly exceeded the public imagination.
Quote examples
Jenova Chen
Chinese Designer
When I was a teenager, I felt my life was constrained by rules, school, my parents. I wanted to feel like I was empowered and different; that's why superheroes, comics, manga, and video games filled my needs. When I got older, I realized power is not free; it comes with responsibility.
Quote examples
Tony Robinson
English Actor
As a child actor, you haven't been allowed to be yourself for most of your life; you've been constrained by the demands of your job, your parents, directors. A fictional or amplified version of you exists, but when you're 17, you can't have a debate with yourself about authenticity.
Quote examples
Robert Smith
English Musician
Apart from the fact that I've got a strange job, I do lead a fairly normal life. I do my own shopping. I don't feel constrained by who I am because of what I do; I often feel disappointed by my lack of ability. I get frustrated at myself, but I think everyone does.
Quote examples
Lawrence Summers
American Economist
But ultimately what I was impressed by during my years in government was how much the intellectual climate and the prevailing intellectual notions constrained and represented the universe within which the discourse took place.
Quote examples
Dean Ornish
American Educator
Whether you're six or sixty, if you go on a diet and lifestyle program and feel constrained, you're likely to go off it sooner or later. Offering a spectrum of choices is much more effective; then, you feel free and empowered.
Quote examples
Margaret MacMillan
Canadian Historian
Women are interested in relationships and how other societies manage those relationships. They may have been constrained in what roles were open to them, but they could question and observe, and they could write it down.
Quote examples
Gail Collins
American Journalist
Sarah Palin is an heir to the women's movement. She has not been constrained by gender. At no point in her life has she thought, 'I can't do that because I'm a woman.
Quote examples
Robert Grosseteste
English Statesman
And as far as possible for sickness or fatigue, constrain yourself to eat in the hall before your people, for this shall bring great benefit and honour to you.
Quote examples
Bjarne Stroustrup
Danish Scientist
I find languages that support just one programming paradigm constraining.
Example 1 of 10
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