From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishself-restraintˌself-reˈstraint noun [uncountable] CONTROLthe ability to stop yourself doing or saying something, even though you want to, because it is more sensible not to do or say itexercise/practise self-restraint The UN appealed for both sides to exercise self-restraint.
Examples from the Corpus
self-restraint• It faces several more years of economic self-restraint, with no real easing in prospect until the second half of the 1990s.• With great self-restraint, he did not grab the rod from his friend's hand.• Buddha established his belief system built around the principles of self-restraint and caring for the poor.• If you practice self-restraint and moderation, you should be able to stay on your diet.• Indeed, the research community's self-restraint may have been carried too far.• But it is not generally the stuff that appears on television, where self-restraint has become the norm. 