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# constraint

«constraint» in Mova's school dictionary: **Something that limits or controls what you can do (time…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a constraint, constraints; constraint uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Something that limits or controls what you can do (time constraints, money constraints). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#m1)

2) (maths, design) A condition or rule that an answer or design must follow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#m2)

3) Holding back your feelings or actions; a lack of freedom. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In design and technology, a design brief has constraints: budget, size, materials. In maths, a problem's constraints are the rules the answer must obey (whole numbers only, under 10). In everyday life, families have time and money constraints. It tells the reader there is a limit. Phrases: «time constraints», «under constraint», «budget constraints».

### examples

- Because of time constraints, we could only visit one museum. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x1)
- The constraint was that the bridge must hold 1 kg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x2)
- Money constraints mean we can't go abroad this year. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x3)
- In the puzzle, the constraint is that each number is used once. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x4)
- A design brief lists all the constraints. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x5)
- He spoke without constraint about his feelings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x6)
- He, however, only laughed at her advice, saying, that his father had always kept him in too great constraint, and that now he rejoiced at his new-found liberty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/#x7)

### note

Countable when meaning a limit: constraints. Verb: constrain. In maths word problems, constraints narrow down the possible answers: e.g. «both numbers are even and add up to 10» rules out 3 + 7.

### In the corpora

- [Thou didst bring us into the hold; Thou didst lay constraint upon our loins.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.1070/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «constraint» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/constraint/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.