Constrain

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To secure by bonds; to chain; to bond or con He binds in hains The droway prophet, and his limbs constrains. Dryden. When winter frosts constrain the fields with old. Dryden.

2. To bring into a narrow compass; to compress. How the strait stays the slender waist constrain. Gay.

3. To hold back by force; to restrain; to repress. My sire in caves constrains the winds. Dryden.

4. To compel; to force; to necessiate; to oblige. The love of Christ constraineth us. 2. Cor. v. 14. I was constrained to appeal unto CActs xxviii. 19.

5. To violate; to ravish. [Obs.] Shak.

6. To produce in such a manner as to give an unnatural effet; as, a constrained voice.

Synonyms: compel; force; drive; impel; urge; press.