Part 499

5. To violate; to ravish. [Obs.] Shak.

6. To produce in such a manner as to give an unnatural effect; as, a constrained voice.

Syn. -- To compel; force; drive; impel; urge; press.

Con*strain"a*ble (?), a. [Cf. OF. constraignable, F. contraignable.] Capable of being constrained; liable to constraint, or to restraint. Hooker.

Con*strained" (?), a. Marked by constraint; not free; not voluntary; embarrassed; as, a constrained manner; a constrained tone.

Con*strain"ed*ly (?), adv. By constraint or compulsion; in a constrained manner. Hooker.

Con*strain"er (?), n. One who constrains.

Con*straint" (?), n. [OF. constrainte, F. constrainte.] The act of constraining, or the state of being constrained; that which compels to, or restrains from, action; compulsion; restraint; necessity.

Long imprisonment and hard constraint. Spenser.

Not by constraint, but by my choice, I came. Dryden.

Syn. -- Compulsion; violence; necessity; urgency. -- Constraint, Compulsion. Constraint implies strong binding force; as, the constraint of necessity; the constraint of fear. Compulsion implies the exertion of some urgent impelling force; as, driven by compulsion. The former prevents us from acting agreeably to our wishes; the latter forces us to act contrary to our will. Compulsion is always produced by some active agent; a constraint may be laid upon us by the forms of civil society, or by other outward circumstances. Crabb.

Con*straint"ive (?), a. Constraining; compulsory. [R.] "Any constraintive vow." R. Carew.

Con*strict" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Constricted; p. pr. & vb. n. Constricting.] [L. constrictus, p. p. of constringere. See Constrain.] To draw together; to render narrower or smaller; to bind; to cramp; to contract or cause to shrink.

Such things as constrict the fibers. Arbuthnot.

Membranous organs inclosing a cavity which their contraction serves to constrict. Todd & Bowman.

Con*strict"ed, a. 1. Drawn together; bound; contracted; cramped.

2. (Bot.) Contracted or compressed so as to be smaller in certain places or parts than in others.

Con*stric"tion (?), n. [L. constrictio: cf. F. constriction.] 1. The act of constricting by means of some inherent power or by movement or change in the thing itself, as distinguished from compression.

2. The state of being constricted; the point where a thing is constricted; a narrowing or binding.

A constriction of the parts inservient to speech. Grew.

Con*strict"ive (?), a. Serving or tending to bind or constrict.

Con*strict"or (?), n. 1. That which constricts, draws together, or contracts.

2. (Anat.) A muscle which contracts or closes an orifice, or which compresses an organ; a sphincter.

3. (Zo÷l.) A serpent that kills its prey by inclosing and crushing it with its folds; as, the boa constrictor.

Con*stringe" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Constringed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Constringing.] [L. constringere. See onstrain.] To dawn together; to contract; to force to contract itself; to constrict; to cause to shrink. [R.]

Strong liquors . . . intoxicate, constringe, harden the fibers, and coagulate the fluids. Arbuthnot.

Con*strin"gent (?), a. [L. constringens, p. pr.] Having the quality of contracting, binding, or compressing. Thomson.

Con*struct" (k&obreve;n*strŭkt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Constructed; p. pr. & vb. n. Constructing.] [L. constructus, p. p. of construere to bring together, to construct; con- + struere to pile up, set in order. See Structure, and cf. Construe.] 1. To put together the constituent parts of (something) in their proper place and order; to build; to form; to make; as, to construct an edifice.