constraint
    n 1: the state of being physically constrained; "dogs should be
         kept under restraint" [syn: constraint, restraint]
    2: a device that retards something's motion; "the car did not
       have proper restraints fitted" [syn: restraint,
       constraint]
    3: the act of constraining; the threat or use of force to
       control the thoughts or behavior of others

Constraint \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.
   [1913 Webster]

         Long imprisonment and hard constraint.   --Spenser.
   [1913 Webster]

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

   Syn: Compulsion; violence; necessity; urgency.

   Usage: 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.
          [1913 Webster]

constraint

    A Boolean relation, often an
   equality or ineqality relation, between the values of one or
   more mathematical variables.  E.g. x>3 is a constraint on x.
   The process of constraint satisfaction attempts to assign values
   to variables so that all constraints are true.

   Usenet newsgroup: <news:comp.constraints>.  <FAQ>.

   (2002-06-08)

CONSTRAINT. In the civil and Scottish law, by this term is understood what, 
in the common law, is known by the name of duress. 
     2. It is a general rule, that when one is compelled into a contract, 
there is no effectual consent, though, ostensibly, there is the form of it. 
In such case the contract will be declared void. 
     3. The constraint requisite thus to annul a contract, must be a vis aut 
me us qui cadet in constantem virum, such as would shake a man of firmness 
and resolution. 3 Ersk. 1, Sec. 16; and 4, 1, Sec. 26; 1 Bell's Conn. B. 3, 
part 1, o. 1, s. 1, art. 1, page 295.