Dictionary

withstrain en · VERB

Etymology

From Middle English withstreynen, equivalent to with- + strain.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To restrain.
   • He was barely able to withstrain himself from killing them right there and now, Darien knows a lifetime and more of torment will bring them much more pain. 2005, Jeremy Bechen, The Lost Lands of Reljae:
   • Her ambition became boundless and her patriotism an obsession. Her pride was in her power and she held weakness in contempt. Withstrained by no scruples she placed her reliance in the sword, […] 1919 August, in The Pacific Unitarian, volumes 27, number 7, page 2 (170)
   • Warren withstrained her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder, allowing it to drift over her back caressingly. 1963, Robert Colby, The Faster She Runs, page 102:
   • Even when this is known, [only] with difficulty is the multitude withstrained from doing sacrifice to a Paul and a Barnabas. 1889–1892, in Cambridge Sermons: Preached Before the University in St. Mary's Church 1889-1892, page 215
   • The sailors surrounded him, laying hands on him, withstraining him, the while they guffawed and cheered. 1914, Jack London, The Mutiny of the Elsinore, page 22:

Forms

Deriveds

withstraint

Synonyms

curb · catch · shackle · curtail · quench · choke back · bind · govern · bury · suppress · suppress · quell · stay · hamshackle · repress · guard · check · restrain · inhibit · stop · limit · vanquish · withstrain · subdue · dampen · underbring · straiten · hold back · smother · contain · restrict · hold down · cork · curtail · throttle · chasten · behedge · stifle · withhold