Sample sentences for CONSTRAINT

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Definition

limitation (something that limits something else)

In classic literature, constraint is often used where constrained would be used today to indicate an inhibited attitude (lack of spontaneity).

I will devote my full energy to the project, without constraint.

constraint = limitation

They talked with uneasy constraint.

constraint = inhibition or reserve

Both sides have demonstrated a lack of constraint in the discussions.

constraint = staying within limits (in this case restraining themselves from saying things that make it hard to work together)

We want constraints on her power to spend taxpayer funds.

constraints = limitations

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.
Alexander Hamilton -- Federalist Papers
Why should we have a government? Because the passions of men won't conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay -- The Federalist Papers — Modern English Edition 2

constraint = something that limits actions

I painfully explained the constraints on resources and time, telling them how frantic we were just trying to get the new office up and running.
Bryan Stevenson -- Just Mercy

constraints = limitations

And what Korean Air did, when it finally turned its operations around, was give its pilots the opportunity to escape the constraints of their cultural legacy.
Malcolm Gladwell -- Outliers

constraints = limitations

He might have noticed that a curious constraint came over the other members of the party.
Agatha Christie -- And Then There Were None

constraint = inhibition or reserve

She insisted on her unequivocal determination for them to remain together only so long as they were friends, without constraints or promises for the future, just like Sartre and Beauvoir.
Isabel Allende -- The House of Spirits

constraints = limitations

"I might add that she's one of my relatives for whom I have the highest regard."
"Does that mean that you don't suspect her?"
"I wouldn't say that. I want you to ponder the matter without any constraints, regardless of what I think or believe."
Stieg Larsson -- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

constraints = limitations

As the first lid opened, all constraint was gone.
Elizabeth George Speare -- The Witch of Blackbird Pond

constraint = inhibition or reserve

"Do you know what compulsion means?"
"Constraint. Obligation. Because one is compelled."
Madeleine L'Engle -- A Wrinkle in Time

constraint = something that limits something else

But to Louie, training felt like one more constraint.
Laura Hillenbrand -- Unbroken

constraint = limitation

If she was forbidden something, even by the three gray goddesses themselves, she would not simply submit. She would set about parsing the constraint down to its atoms, and try to eke a way through.
Madeline Miller -- Circe

constraint = limitation

There's no physics to worry about, no constraints on acceleration, no air resistance.
Neal Stephenson -- Snow Crash

constraints = limitations

An indescribable constraint, weariness, and humiliation were perceptible beneath this hardihood.
Victor Hugo -- Les Miserables

constraint = something that limits something else

Politicians and kings suffer the agony of constraint.
Mark Helprin -- A Soldier of the Great War

constraint = limitations

The best academic summary is probably: R. I. M. Dunbar, "Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates," Journal of Human Evolution (1992), vol.
Malcolm Gladwell -- The Tipping Point
We were looked after by the older brother, who must have been warned to restrain himself, for he never touched us. The younger one was under no such constraints.
Nelson Mandela -- Long Walk to Freedom

constraints = limitations (limiting his actions)

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