From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstraitjacketstrait‧jack‧et, straightjacket /ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt/ noun [countable] 1 DCCSCa special piece of clothing that prevents someone from moving their arms, used to control someone who is being violent or, in the past, someone who was mentally ill2 LIMITsomething such as a law or set of ideas that puts very strict or unfair limits on someone the straitjacket of censorship
Examples from the Corpus
straitjacket• Designed for a government of clerks, civil service became a straitjacket in an era of knowledge workers.• People realize that we lived in a straitjacket for along time.• I spent that night in a straitjacket of fear.• However, as no votes have been recorded at these junctures the arithmetic straitjacket has remained largely hidden.• Cameron knew how good his son really was, and encouraged him to break free of the pop straitjacket.• The smiling realists are relieved that good old-fashioned national interest may burst out of the straitjacket of Brussels directives.Origin straitjacket (1800-1900) strait “narrow, tight” ( → STRAIT) + jacket 