All 6 Uses of
rein
in
Nicholas Nickleby
- In truth, there appeared some reason to expect that such a result would follow from the encounter, for John Browdie no sooner saw Nicholas advancing, than he reined in his horse by the footpath, and waited until such time as he should come up; looking meanwhile, very sternly between the horse's ears, at Nicholas, as he came on at his leisure.†
Chpt 13
- 'Nay noo,' replied the honest countryman, reining in his impatient horse, 'stan' still, tellee.†
Chpt 13
- However, Mr Vincent Crummles kept him up pretty well, by jerking the rein, and plying the whip; and when these means failed, and the animal came to a stand, the elder Master Crummles got out and kicked him.†
Chpt 23
- To you—no,' returned Sir Mulberry, taking the reins in his hand.†
Chpt 32 *
- 'You had better not,' cried Nicholas, springing on the step as Sir Mulberry jumped in, and catching at the reins.†
Chpt 32
- The animal reared and plunged as though it would dash the carriage into a thousand pieces, but Nicholas, blind to all sense of danger, and conscious of nothing but his fury, still maintained his place and his hold upon the reins.†
Chpt 32
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.)