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Restrain synonyms
rĭ-strān'
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curb
To lead (a dog being walked) to the curb or some other place where it may pass its waste matter
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  1. To lead (a dog being walked) to the curb or some other place where it may pass its waste matter
  2. To prevent (a person or group) from doing something or acting in a certain way.
  3. To check, restrain, or control (an impulse or activity, for example); rein in.
inhibit
To decrease, limit, or block the action or function of something in the body, as an enzyme or organ.
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  1. To decrease, limit, or block the action or function of something in the body, as an enzyme or organ.
  2. To hold back or keep from some action, feeling, etc.; check or repress
  3. (--- Biology) To decrease, limit, or block the action or function of (an enzyme or organ, for example).
restrict
To keep or confine within physical limits:
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  1. To keep or confine within physical limits:
  2. To keep within certain limits; put certain limitations on; confine
  3. To prevent or prohibit beyond a certain limit or by restriction:
control
To reduce or prevent the spread of:
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  1. To reduce or prevent the spread of:
  2. To hold in restraint; check.
  3. To hold in restraint; check:
bridle
To be angry or resentful; take offense:
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  1. To be angry or resentful; take offense:
  2. To curb or control with or as with a bridle
  3. To control or restrain:
rein-in
Alternative spelling of rein in.
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  1. Alternative spelling of rein in.
  2. (Idiomatic) To stop or slow something, by exercising control.
  3. To stop or slow a horse by pulling the reins
suppress
To keep back; restrain; check
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  1. To keep back; restrain; check
  2. To end, prohibit, or keep something from being known, heard, discussed, or seen. To end, prohibit, or keep something from being known, heard, discussed, or seen.
  3. To check or stop (a natural flow, secretion, or excretion)
handle
To direct, execute, or dispose of:
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  1. To direct, execute, or dispose of:
  2. To manage, operate, or use with the hand or hands; manipulate
  3. To manage, control, direct, train, etc.
regulate
To control or direct according to rule, principle, or law.
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  1. To control or direct according to rule, principle, or law.
  2. To put or maintain in order:
  3. To control, direct, or govern according to a rule, principle, or system; specif., to impose a body of regulations on a particular industry, type of business, etc.
guide
To serve as a guide for; conduct.
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  1. To serve as a guide for; conduct.
  2. To direct (the policies, actions, etc.) of; manage; regulate
  3. To direct the course or motion of (a vehicle, implement, etc.) by physical action
direct
To concentrate or focus (one's sight or attention, for example) on a particular object or activity.
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  1. To concentrate or focus (one's sight or attention, for example) on a particular object or activity.
  2. To give commands or directions.
  3. To order or cause a person or entity to carry out a course of action; more generally, to govern an enterprise or activity. Of a judge, the giving of a verbal instruction to a witness or jury to behave in a certain way, as in, “the witness is directed to answer yes or no to the questions” or “the jury is directed to disregard the defendant’s outburst.” To order or cause a person or entity to carry out a course of action; more generally, to govern an enterprise or activity. Of a judge, the giving of a verbal instruction to a witness or jury to behave in a certain way, as in, “the witness is directed to answer yes or no to the questions” or “the jury is directed to disregard the defendant’s outburst.”
keep-from
To protect or preserve from.
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  1. To protect or preserve from.
  2. To prevent or restrain (oneself or another); refrain or cause refrain.
repress
To prevent (unconscious ideas, impulses, etc.) from reaching the level of consciousness
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  1. To prevent (unconscious ideas, impulses, etc.) from reaching the level of consciousness
  2. Hence, to check; to keep back.
  3. To control so strictly or severely as to prevent the natural development or expression of
harness
To put a harness on (a draft animal).
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  1. To put a harness on (a draft animal).
  2. To bring under control and direct the force of:
  3. To capture, control or put to use.
muzzle
To restrain from expression:
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  1. To restrain from expression:
  2. To prevent from talking or expressing an opinion; gag
  3. To put a muzzle on (an animal)
tether
To fasten or confine with a tether
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  1. To fasten or confine with a tether
  2. To restrain or secure with a tether.
chain
To bind or make fast with a chain or chains:
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  1. To bind or make fast with a chain or chains:
  2. A group of atoms, often of the same element, bound together in a line, branched line, or ring to form a molecule. &diamf3; In a straight chain , each of the constituent atoms is attached to other single atoms, not to groups of atoms. &diamf3; In a branched chain , side groups are attached to the chain. &diamf3; In a closed chain , the atoms are arranged in the shape of a ring.
  3. To hold down, restrain, confine, etc.
fetter
To put fetters on; shackle.
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  1. To put fetters on; shackle.
  2. To restrict or restrain:
  3. To hold in check; restrain; confine
govern
(Grammar) To require (a specific morphological form) of accompanying words.
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  1. (Grammar) To require (a specific morphological form) of accompanying words.
  2. To exercise authority over; rule, administer, direct, control, manage, etc.
  3. To hold in check; restrain; curb
hold
To keep from departing or getting away:
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  1. To keep from departing or getting away:
  2. To keep from falling or moving; support:
  3. To carry or support (the body or a bodily part) in a certain position:
bind
To cause to cohere or stick together in a mass:
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  1. To cause to cohere or stick together in a mass:
  2. To unite or hold, as by a feeling of loyalty or love
  3. To combine with, form a bond with, or be taken up by a chemical or chemical structure. An enzyme, for example, is structured in such a way as to be able to bind with its substrate.
deter
To make less likely or prevent from happening:
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  1. To make less likely or prevent from happening:
  2. To prevent or discourage (an action or behavior):
  3. To keep or discourage (a person, group, or nation) from doing something by instilling fear, anxiety, doubt, etc.
hold back
(Idiomatic) to delay, especially in school
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  1. (Idiomatic) to delay, especially in school
  2. (Idiomatic) to contain; stop
hamper
To keep from moving or acting freely; hinder; impede; encumber
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  1. To keep from moving or acting freely; hinder; impede; encumber
  2. To prevent the free movement, action, or progress of:
constrain
To keep within certain limits; confine or limit:
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  1. To keep within certain limits; confine or limit:
  2. To produce in a forced or inhibited manner:
  3. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige:
stay
To continue to be in a place or condition:
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  1. To continue to be in a place or condition:
  2. To stop, halt, or check
  3. To suspend by legal order the implementation of (a planned action), especially pending further proceedings:
gag
To make jokes or quips:
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  1. To make jokes or quips:
  2. (Mech.) To choke or stop up (a valve, etc.)
  3. To experience a regurgitative spasm in the throat, as from revulsion to a food or smell or in reflexive response to an introduced object.
limit
To confine within bounds; set a limit to; restrict; curb
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  1. To confine within bounds; set a limit to; restrict; curb
  2. To confine or restrict with a limit:
  3. A number or point for which, from a given set of numbers or points, one can choose an arbitrarily close number or point. For example, for the set of all real numbers greater than zero and less than one, the numbers one and zero are limit points, since one can pick a number from the set arbitrarily close to one or zero (even though one and zero are not themselves in the set). Limits form the basis for calculus , where a number L is defined to be the limit approached by a function f(x) as x approaches a if, for every positive number Ɛ, there exists a number ẟ such that | f(x)−L | < Ɛ if 0 < | x−a | < ẟ.
impound
(Law, banking) To collect and hold (funds) for payment of property taxes and insurance on property in which one has a security interest.
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  1. (Law, banking) To collect and hold (funds) for payment of property taxes and insurance on property in which one has a security interest.
  2. To take and hold (a document, funds, a vehicle, etc.) in legal custody
  3. To set aside in a fund rather than spend as prescribed:
pull back
(Sports) To pass (the ball) into a position further from the attacking goal line.
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  1. (Sports) To pass (the ball) into a position further from the attacking goal line.
  2. Used other than as an idiom. To pull in a backwards direction
  3. To pull in order to reveal something underneath or behind.
contain
To halt the spread or development of; check:
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  1. To halt the spread or development of; check:
  2. To hold or keep within limits; restrain:
  3. To have in it; hold, enclose, or include
stifle
To kill by preventing respiration; smother or suffocate.
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  1. To kill by preventing respiration; smother or suffocate.
  2. To interrupt or cut off (the voice, for example).
  3. To suppress or repress; hold back; check, stop, inhibit, etc.
sit on
(Idiomatic) To block, suppress, restrain.
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  1. (Idiomatic) To block, suppress, restrain.
  2. (Idiomatic, informal) To restrain (a person).
limit
To confine or restrict with a limit:
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  1. To confine or restrict with a limit:
  2. A number or point for which, from a given set of numbers or points, one can choose an arbitrarily close number or point. For example, for the set of all real numbers greater than zero and less than one, the numbers one and zero are limit points, since one can pick a number from the set arbitrarily close to one or zero (even though one and zero are not themselves in the set). Limits form the basis for calculus , where a number L is defined to be the limit approached by a function f(x) as x approaches a if, for every positive number Ɛ, there exists a number ẟ such that | f(x)−L | < Ɛ if 0 < | x−a | < ẟ.
  3. To confine within bounds; set a limit to; restrict; curb
circumscribe
To enclose a solid figure within (another solid figure) in a similar manner, as a cube within a sphere or a sphere within a cube
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  1. To enclose a solid figure within (another solid figure) in a similar manner, as a cube within a sphere or a sphere within a cube
  2. To draw a figure around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible. A circle that is circumscribed around a triangle touches it at each of the triangle's three vertices.
  3. To set or mark off the limits of; limit; confine
delimit
To establish the limits or boundaries of; demarcate.
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  1. To establish the limits or boundaries of; demarcate.
  2. To set the limits or boundaries of
bit
To put a bit into the mouth of (a horse)
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  1. To put a bit into the mouth of (a horse)
  2. To check or curb
  3. To check or control with or as if with a bit.
brake
To break up (flax, clods of earth, etc.) into smaller pieces
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  1. To break up (flax, clods of earth, etc.) into smaller pieces
  2. To operate or apply a brake.
  3. To slow down or stop with or as with a brake
bridle
To pull one's head back quickly with the chin drawn in as an expression of anger, scorn, pride, etc.
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  1. To pull one's head back quickly with the chin drawn in as an expression of anger, scorn, pride, etc.
  2. To be angry or resentful; take offense:
  3. To control or restrain:
constrain
To hold back by force; restrain
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  1. To hold back by force; restrain
  2. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige:
  3. To keep within certain limits; confine or limit:
curb
To lead (a dog being walked) to the curb or some other place where it may pass its waste matter
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  1. To lead (a dog being walked) to the curb or some other place where it may pass its waste matter
  2. To prevent (a person or group) from doing something or acting in a certain way.
  3. To check, restrain, or control (an impulse or activity, for example); rein in.
hold
To take and keep with the hands or arms, or by other means; grasp; clutch; seize
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  1. To take and keep with the hands or arms, or by other means; grasp; clutch; seize
  2. To keep under obligation; bind
  3. To get and keep control of; keep from relaxing or lapsing
hold back
(Idiomatic) to delay, especially in school
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  1. (Idiomatic) to delay, especially in school
  2. (Idiomatic) to act with reserve; to contain one's full measure or power
hold down
(Idiomatic) To continue, to hold and to manage well.
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  1. (Idiomatic) To continue, to hold and to manage well.
  2. (Idiomatic) To restrain; to check.
inhibit
To hold back; restrain:
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  1. To hold back; restrain:
  2. To decrease, limit, or block the action or function of something in the body, as an enzyme or organ.
  3. To hold back or keep from some action, feeling, etc.; check or repress
keep
To continue to have or hold; not lose or give up
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  1. To continue to have or hold; not lose or give up
  2. To save; reserve:
  3. To put customarily; store:
keep back
To restrict or restrain
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  1. To restrict or restrain
  2. To prevent (a pupil) to advance in a course
  3. To hold back, refuse to give or share
in
In a particular relationship:
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  1. In a particular relationship:
  2. (Sports) So as to score, as by crossing home plate in baseball:
  3. At or inside one's home, office, etc.

Synonym Study

  • Inhibit implies a suppressing or repressing of some action, impulse, thought, or emotion to inhibit free discussion, often also by the operation of psychological constraints
  • Curb , check , and bridle derive their current implications from the various uses of a horse's harness, curb implying a sudden, sharp action to bring something under control to curb one's tongue, check implying a slowing up of action or progress to check inflationary trends, and bridle suggesting a holding in of emotion, feelings, etc. to bridle one's envy
  • Restrain , the term of broadest application in this list, suggests the use of strong force or authority either in preventing, or in suppressing and controlling, some action try to restrain your zeal
Find another word for restrain. In this page you can discover 69 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for restrain, like: curb, inhibit, restrict, check, control, bridle, rein-in, suppress, keep-in, handle and regulate.

Sentence Examples

  • Nasty bitches like me eat them alive, but in your case I'll try to restrain myself.

  • The acts were directed to restrain the lending of money at usurious rates.

  • Melanchthon felt himself powerless to restrain the tumult.

  • It is a sad story, but if you will try to restrain your tears I will tell you about it.

  • Austin, was able to restrain the more warlike followers of William H.

More sentences →

Words that mention restrain in the Dictionary

Words near restrain in the Thesaurus