Con-strāint', n.
n. [O. Fr. contrainte, N. Fr. contrainte.]
Sense 1. The act of constraining, or the state of being constrained; compulsion; restraint; confinement. “Long imprisonment and hard constraint.”
Sense 2. That which constrains; any force or power which compels to, or restrains from, action; necessity.
Not by constraint, but by my choice, I came. Dryden.
Synonyms—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. A soldier in the ranks moves with much constraint, and is often subject to much compulsion to make him move as desired. 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.
Commands are no constraints. If I obey them, I do it freely. Milton.