From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrestraintre‧straint /rɪˈstreɪnt/ ●○○ AWL noun 1 [uncountable]CONTROL calm sensible controlled behaviour, especially in a situation when it is difficult to stay calm SYN self-control The police were praised for their restraint in handling the demonstrators.show/exercise restraint He urged the millions of protesters to exercise restraint.2 [countable usually plural, uncountable]RULE/REGULATION a rule or principle that limits what people can dorestraint on Opposition politicians have called for restraints on public spending. The government has imposed restraints on corporate mergers.3 [uncountable] formalSTOP something THAT IS HAPPENING physical force that is used to hold someone back, especially because they are likely to be violent Sometimes police officers have to use physical restraint to control dangerous prisoners.4 [countable]TTC something that prevents someone from moving freely, such as a rope or a seat belt
Examples from the Corpus
restraint• At present, six children are killed and 400 hurt in a year in crashes because they were not wearing a restraint.• The situation called for great care and restraint.• The war years were however characterised by a period of judicial restraint.• But on top of this mathematical restraint on prices there is the confidence factor.• Psychiatric hospitals have rules on the use of restraints on patients.• Death was due to a lack of oxygen, caused by physical restraint.• In order to cope, one must understand something about a proper use of physical restraint.• Naturally, you will have more room for manoeuvre if you have avoided agreeing to detailed and specific restraints.• Because of the tremendous force from the launch, tight restraints are necessary.show/exercise restraint• Hunt supporters have always been advised to exercise restraint.• Its decision is therefore almost always to show restraint and to leave the scene as quietly as possible.• It pledged to continue the struggle for democratic representation but appealed to its supporters to continue to exercise restraint.• They argue that the ambiguity encourages both sides to show restraint.• He urged employers and trade unions to show restraint in the 1990 wage round.• The unconscious operates according to the pleasure principle alone - there are no values exercising restraint over instinctual impulses.restraint on• The treaty will remove all restraints on exports between the countries.From Longman Business Dictionaryrestraintre‧straint /rɪˈstreɪnt/ noun [countable, uncountable] a rule or principle limiting what countries, companies etc can sell, advertise, buy etcBeijing promised to ease import restraints and buy more U.S. products.The regulations were ruled to be an unreasonable restraint of trade.restraint onregulationsimposing restraints on competition → price restraint → wage restraintOrigin restraint (1300-1400) Old French restreinte, from restreindre; → RESTRAIN 