string-, strict-, strain-, -stringence, -stringency, -stringe, -stringent
(Latin: draw tight, to bind, to compress)
constraint
1. The use of force to influence or to prevent an action.
2. The state or quality of being compelled to do or not to do something; restricted liberty.
3. The threat or use of force to control the thoughts or behavior of others.
4. The state of being restricted or confined within prescribed bounds: "My brother soon tired of the constraint of military life."
5. Anyone who restricts, limits, or regulates; a check: "She ignored all moral constraints in her pursuit as head of the company."
6. Embarrassed reserve or reticence; awkwardness: “Thke constraints between the two vanished and they started to discuss the situation.”
2. The state or quality of being compelled to do or not to do something; restricted liberty.
3. The threat or use of force to control the thoughts or behavior of others.
4. The state of being restricted or confined within prescribed bounds: "My brother soon tired of the constraint of military life."
5. Anyone who restricts, limits, or regulates; a check: "She ignored all moral constraints in her pursuit as head of the company."
6. Embarrassed reserve or reticence; awkwardness: “Thke constraints between the two vanished and they started to discuss the situation.”
constrict
1. To compress, to make narrower.
2. To cause to contract.
3. To make smaller or more narrow; especially, by binding or squeezing.
4. To squeeze or to compress.
5. To restrict the scope or freedom of; to cramp: "Many lives are constricted by poverty and illness."
2. To cause to contract.
3. To make smaller or more narrow; especially, by binding or squeezing.
4. To squeeze or to compress.
5. To restrict the scope or freedom of; to cramp: "Many lives are constricted by poverty and illness."
constricted (adjective), more constricted, most constricted
Limited, impeded, or bound to one place: Some extremely poor people had a very constricted way of existing in Ted's city since they only had a bridge to sleep under or a park bench to sleep on.
© ALL rights are reserved.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
constriction
1. Tightness, a constricted part; a feeling of pressure.
2. Something that constricts or the process of becoming narrower, or of making something more narrow.
3. Anything that severely restricts someone's freedom of movement, action, or expression.
2. Something that constricts or the process of becoming narrower, or of making something more narrow.
3. Anything that severely restricts someone's freedom of movement, action, or expression.
constrictive
Tending to constrict or restricting the scope or freedom of action.
constrictor
1. A muscle which narrows an orifice or constricts an organ, or a muscle that tightens to make a part of the body narrower.
2. A snake which kills its prey by squeezing or constriction; such as, a python, boa constrictor, etc.
3. Someone or something that constricts somebody or something else.
2. A snake which kills its prey by squeezing or constriction; such as, a python, boa constrictor, etc.
3. Someone or something that constricts somebody or something else.
constringency
A condition that causes something to contract, or to constrict.
constringent
Having the quality of contracting, binding or compressing.
distrain
1. To seize someone's movable property either in lieu of payment of a debt or in order to force the person to pay.
2. To seize and hold (property) to compel payment or reparation, as of debts.
2. To seize and hold (property) to compel payment or reparation, as of debts.
distrainable (adjective), more distrainable, most distrainable
Disposed to forcing or compelling someone to satisfy an obligation by means of distress: The distrainable chattels of his household were appropriated by the landlord and kept until Jack's unpaid debts on his rent had been paid.
distraint
The act of distraining; a distress.
1. A mental suffering; such as, that caused by grief, anxiety, or unhappiness.
2. Hardship or problems caused by a lack of basic necessities.
3. Physical pain or discomfort.
4. Great danger or difficulty, with a need for immediate assistance.
5. Etymology: from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere, "to draw apart, to hinder"; also, in Medieval Latin (Latin as written and spoken c.700-c.1500), "to compel, to coerce"; from dis-, "apart" + stringere, "to draw tight, to press together".
2. Hardship or problems caused by a lack of basic necessities.
3. Physical pain or discomfort.
4. Great danger or difficulty, with a need for immediate assistance.
5. Etymology: from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere, "to draw apart, to hinder"; also, in Medieval Latin (Latin as written and spoken c.700-c.1500), "to compel, to coerce"; from dis-, "apart" + stringere, "to draw tight, to press together".
distressful (adjective), more distressful, most distressful
1. Causing distress, or experiencing worry or anxiety.
2. Causing or involving distress: "There are extensive distressful circumstances of poverty and sickness in this family."
3. Pertaining to a feeling, of severe pain: "The little boy fell down and hurt his knee and his mother heard his distressful cry and ran to help him."
2. Causing or involving distress: "There are extensive distressful circumstances of poverty and sickness in this family."
3. Pertaining to a feeling, of severe pain: "The little boy fell down and hurt his knee and his mother heard his distressful cry and ran to help him."
distressfully
With distress.
distressing
1. To cause worry and anxiety.
2. To give severe pain or oppressing with affliction.
3. The seizing of someone's movable property either in lieu of payment of a debt or in order to force the person to pay.
4. To make someone extremely upset, anxious, or alarmed.
2. To give severe pain or oppressing with affliction.
3. The seizing of someone's movable property either in lieu of payment of a debt or in order to force the person to pay.
4. To make someone extremely upset, anxious, or alarmed.
