Meanings
- rareuncountableThe act or process of withstraining; restraint.
But no withstraint was put on the fishing and the oyster banks gave out.
1911, Arthur Bullard, Panama: The Canal, the Country, and the People, page 3665 more examples
Thousands of slaves were better off by far than they have been subsequent to liberation, and it is a fact that speaks volumes for the much discussed and criticized slaveholders, that numbers of emancipated slaves refused to accept their freedom, while many more, who went away delighted at the removal of withstraint, came back of their own option very soon after, and begged to be allowed to resume the old relations.
1895, James Cox, My Native Land: The United States, page 246Dr. H. K. Miller of New York City, certainly gave a fine talk on "Withstraint and Treatment of Cats."
1925, Veterinary Medicine, volume 20, page 494He realized that he had come into contact with a new force - culture and convention which were the products of generations of withstraint and careful training.
1933, Basil Fuller, The Life Story of the Rt. Hon. J. H. Thomas, page 73The exceptions to this withstraint are the heart centre, the spleen, and two minor centres connected with the breathing apparatus.
1953, Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on the Seven Rays: The New PsychologyIncredulously, the faithful narrator marveled at the withstraint of the Duke as he sidestepped Zaragoza, home of his uncle, and skirted Pedrola, home of his sister, to spend a night in the obscure little village of Almudévar away from any familiar hearth.
1956, Amarie Dennis, Saint Francis Borgia (1510-1572), page 170
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From withstrain, modelled after restraint. Equivalent to with- + straint.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
withstraint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/withstraint
“withstraint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/withstraint. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “withstraint,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/withstraint.
Source: withstraint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.