Both Uses
constrained
in
The Declaration of Independence
(Auto-generated)
- —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.†
*constrains = restricts
- He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.†
constrained = restricted; or lacking spontaneity
Definitions:
-
(1)
(constrained) restricted or inhibited
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Much more rarely (and archaically), constrain can mean to force someone to do something.