All 4 Uses of
rein
in
David Copperfield
- He reined up his horse to salute my mother, and said he was going to Lowestoft to see some friends who were there with a yacht, and merrily proposed to take me on the saddle before him if I would like the ride.†
Chpt 1-3
- 'Why that horse,' said the carrier, jerking the rein to point him out, 'would be deader than pork afore he got over half the ground.'†
Chpt 4-6
- 'That ain't a sort of man to see sitting behind a coach-box, is it though?' said William in my ear, as he handled the reins.†
Chpt 19-21 *
- The reins were broken, but they had been dragging on the ground.†
Chpt 37-39
Definition:
-
(rein as in: to rein in their activities) to restrain or control; or a means of controlThe meaning of rein depends upon its context. For example:
- "keep a tight rein on the new employee," or "rein in a horse" -- to control or restrain
- "give the new employee free rein," or "give the horse full rein" -- do not restrain
- "the reins of government" -- means of control
- "the reins of the horse" -- leather straps used with a bit to control a horse (You might like to think of other senses of rein as being figurative derivations from this sense.)