constraint: Meaning and Definition of

con•straint

1. limitation or restriction.
2. repression of natural feelings and impulses: to practice constraint.
3. unnatural restraint in manner, conversation, etc.; embarrassment.
4. something that constrains.
5. the act of constraining.
6. the condition of being constrained.
7. a restriction on the operation of a linguistic rule or the occurrence of a linguistic construction.