restraint

From Middle English restreynte, from Old French restreinte; more at restrain.

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈstɹeɪnt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪnt

restraint (countable and uncountable, plural restraints)

1. (countable) something that restrains, ties, fastens or secures

   Synonym: fetter

   Make sure all the restraints are tight.

   • 1968, Robert Conquest, “The Purge Begins”, in The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties‎^[1], Macmillan Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 75:

     At the centre of Stalin’s superiority over his competitors was certainly his intense will, just as Napoleon ranked what he called ‘moral fortitude’ higher in a general than genius or experience. When Milovan Djilas said to Stalin during the Yugoslav-Soviet discussions in Moscow during the war that the Serbian politician Gavrilović was ‘a shrewd man’, Stalin commented, as though to himself: ‘Yes, there are politicians who think shrewdness is the main thing in politics. . . .’⁴⁴ His was a will-power taken to a logical extreme. There is something non-human about his almost total lack of normal restraints upon it.

2. (uncountable) control or caution; reserve

   Try to exercise restraint when talking to your boss.

   • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in guardian.co.uk:

     City will feel nonplussed when they review the tape and Pellegrini had to summon all his restraint in the post-match interviews.

• constraint
• restrain
• restrict

• retransit, transiter