Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-STRAINT, n. [from Fr. restreint.]

1. The act or operation of holding back or hindering from motion, in any manner; hinderance of the will, or of any action, physical, moral or mental.
2. Abridgment of liberty; as, the restraint of a man by imprisonment or by duress.
3. Prohibition. The commands of God should be effectual restraints upon our evil passions.
4. Limitation; restriction. If all were granted, yet it must be maintained, within any bold restraints, far otherwise than it is received. – Brown.
5. That which restrains, hinders or represses. The laws are restraints upon injustice.