All 3 Uses
rein
in
The Whipping Boy
(Edited)
- The coachman, looking just as old and rickety, held the reins of his two-horse team and cracked his whip in the air again.
p. 52.2reins = straps attached to a bit in a horse's mouth that are used to control it
- The hot-potato man pulled up on the reins.
p. 53.8
- "Rein in your beast," he whispered stiffly.
p. 60.8 *rein in = restrain
Definitions:
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(1)
(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.)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) to "give free rein" is not to restrain (not to exercise control over)