Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-STI-TU'TION-IST, n.

One who adheres to the constitution of the country. – Bolingbroke.

CON'STI-TU-TIVE, a.

1. That constitutes, forms or composes; elemental; essential. The constitutive parts of a schismatic, being the esteem of himself and contempt of others. – Decay of Piety.
2. Having power to enact or establish; instituting.

CON'STI-TU-TIVE-LY, adv.

In a constitutive manner.

CON-STRAIN', v.t. [Fr. contraindre; It. constrignere, or costringere; Sp. constreñir; Port. constringir; from L. constringo; con and stringo, to strain, to bind. See Strain. In a general sense, to strain; to press; to urge; to drive; to exert force, physical or moral, either in urging to action or in restraining it. Hence,]

1. To compel or force; to urge with irresistible power, or with a power sufficient to produce the effect. The spirit within me constrained me. – Job xxxii. I was constrained to appeal to Cesar. – Acts xxviii. For the love of Christ constraineth us. 2 Cor. v.
2. To confine by force; to restrain from escape or action; to repress. My sire in caves constrains the winds. – Dryden.
3. To hold by force; to press; to confine. How the strait stays the slender waist constrain. – Gay.
4. To constringe; to bind. When winter frosts constrain the field with cold. – Dryden.
5. To tie fast; to bind; to chain; to confine. He binds in chains / The drowsy prophet, and his limbs constrains. – Dryden.
6. To necessitate. Did fate or we the adulterous act constrain? – Pope.
7. To force; to ravish. [Not used.] – Shak.
8. To produce in opposition to nature; as, a constrained voice; constrained notes. – Waller.

CON-STRAIN'A-BLE, a.

That may be constrained, forced, or repressed; liable to constraint, or to restraint. – Hooker.

CON-STRAIN'ED, pp.

Urged irresistibly or powerfully; compelled; forced; restrained; confined; bound; imprisoned; necessitated.

CON-STRAIN'ED-LY, adv.

By constraint; by compulsion. – Hooker.

CON-STRAIN'ER, n.

One who constrains.

CON-STRAIN'ING, ppr.

Urging with irresistible or powerful force; compelling; forcing; repressing; confining; holding by force; pressing; binding.

CON-STRAINT', n. [Fr. contrainte.]

Irresistible force, or its effect; any force, or power, physical or moral, which compels to act or to forbear action, or which urges so strongly as to produce its effect upon the body or mind; compulsion; restraint; confinement. Not by constraint, but by my choice, I came. – Dryden. Feed the flock of God, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly. – 1 Pet. v.

CON-STRAINT'IVE, a.

Having power to compel. [Ill.] – Carew.

CON-STRICT', v.t. [L. constringo, constrictum. See Constrain.]

To draw together; to bind; to cramp; to draw into a narrow compass; hence, to contract or cause to shrink. – Arbuthnot.

CON-STRICT'ED, pp.

Drawn together; bound; contracted.

CON-STRICT'ING, ppr.

Drawing together; binding; contracting.

CON-STRIC'TION, n.

A drawing together or contraction by means of some inherent power, or by spasm, as distinguished from compression, or the pressure of extraneous bodies; as, the constriction of a muscle or fiber. It may perhaps be sometimes used as synonymons with compression.

CON-STRICT'OR, n.

1. That which draws together or contracts. In anatomy, a muscle which draws together or closes an orifice of the body; as, the constrictor labiorum, a muscle of the lips. – Encyc.
2. A species of serpents, the black snake of the United States. – Encyc. Also, the Boa constrictor, the largest of known serpents.

CON-STRINGE', v.t. [constrinj'; L. constringo. See Constrain.]

To draw together; to strain into a narrow compass; to contract; to force to contract itself. Strong liquors constringe, harden the fibers, and coagulate the fluids. – Arbuthnot.

CON-STRIN'GED, pp.

Contracted; drawn together.

CON-STRIN'GENT, a.

Having the quality of contracting, binding or compressing. – Bacon. Thomson.

CON-STRIN'GING, ppr.

Drawing or compressing into a smaller compass; contracting; binding.

CON-STRUCT', v.t. [L. construo, constructum; con and struo, to lay, dispose or set in order; Sp. construir; Fr. construire; It. id. See Structure.]

1. To put together the parts of a thing in their proper place and order; to build; to form; as, to construct an edifice.
2. To devise and compose, as, to construct a new system; or simply to frame or form, as, to construct a telescope. The word may include the invention, with the formation, or not, at the pleasure of the writer. A man constructs a ship according to a model; or a grammar by a new arrangement of principles; or a planetarium of a new form.
3. To interpret or understand. [See Construe.]

CON-STRUCT'ED, pp.

Built; formed; composed; compiled.

CON-STRUCT'ER, n.

One who constructs or frames.

CON-STRUCT'ING, ppr.

Building; framing; composing.

CON-STRUC'TION, n. [L. constructio.]

1. The act of building, or of devising and forming; fabrication.
2. The form of building; the manner of putting together the parts of a building, a machine, or a system; structure; conformation. The sailing of a ship and its capacity depend chiefly on its construction.
3. In grammar, syntax, or the arrangement and connection of words in a sentence, according to established usages, or the practice of good writers and speakers.
4. Sense; meaning; interpretation; explanation; or the manner of understanding the arrangement of words or of understanding facts. Let us find the true construction; or let us give the author's words a sound, rational, consistent construction. What construction can be put upon this affair, or upon the conduct of a man?
5. The manner of describing a figure or problem in geometry. – Johnson. The drawing of such lines, such figure, &c., as are previously necessary for making any demonstration appear more plain and undeniable. – Encyc.
6. In algebra, the construction of equations, is the method of reducing a known equation into lines and figures, in order to a geometrical demonstration. – Johnson.