Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To keep or confine within physical limits.
  • transitive verb To prevent or prohibit beyond a certain limit or by restriction: synonym: limit.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To prevent (a person or thing) from passing a certain limit in any kind of action; limit; restrain.
  • To attach limitations to (a proposition or conception), so that it shall not apply to all the subjects to which it would otherwise seem to apply: as, a restricted sense of a word.
  • Synonyms Repress, etc. (see restrain), hedge in.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To restrain within bounds; to limit; to confine
  • adjective obsolete Restricted.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To restrain within bounds; to limit; to confine; as, to restrict worlds to a particular meaning; to restrict a patient to a certain diet.
  • verb specifically, mathematics To consider (a function) as defined on a subset of its original domain.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb place limits on (extent or access)
  • verb make more specific
  • verb place restrictions on
  • verb place under restrictions; limit access to

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin restringere, restrict- : re-, re- + stringere, to draw tight; see streig- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin restrictus, perfect passive participle of restringō ("draw back tightly; restrain, restrict"), from re- ("back, again") + stringō ("press, tighten, compress").

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Examples

  • It is for this reason that the 14th Amendment contained a penalty for any state that attempted to once again restrict the vote.

    Archive 2008-10-01 John Storhm 2008

  • It is for this reason that the 14th Amendment contained a penalty for any state that attempted to once again restrict the vote.

    The Great American Election Fraud 1900-1965 John Storhm 2008

  • Having the confidence to label myself built character, but having the courage not to let that label restrict me took wisdom and insight.

    Same Sex in the City Lauren Levin 2006

  • Having the confidence to label myself built character, but having the courage not to let that label restrict me took wisdom and insight.

    Same Sex in the City Lauren Levin 2006

  • Global real economy is still falling, and will in the long term restrict the overseas demand.

    unknown title 2009

  • It does look as though a bias is occuring that will in legal terms restrict things, but hey that can mean nothing except tie the courts up.

    Cameron's cuts: There are alternatives | Editorial 2011

  • Mandatory labels restrict market access for products that do not comply.

    AllAfrica News: Latest 2010

  • Mandatory labels restrict market access for products that do not comply.

    AllAfrica News: Latest 2010

  • I've found that it took time, insight and experience to build the confidence to not let labels restrict me.

    Kansan.com stories 2009

  • If your terms restrict how high they can bid with their sites, someone else's ad will show up on their site in the spot instead.

    Search Engine Roundtable 2008

Comments

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  • Cf. restrain

    September 26, 2010