strait·jack·et
ˈstrāt-ˌja-kət 
variants
or less commonly straightjacket
1
: a cover or overgarment of strong material (such as canvas) used to bind the body and especially the arms closely in restraining a violent prisoner or patient
2
: something that restricts or confines like a straitjacket
variants
or less commonly straightjacket
straitjacketed also straightjacketed; straitjacketing also straightjacketing; straitjackets also straightjackets
: to confine in or as if in a straitjacket
Examples of straitjacket in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Tzvi Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2017
Lagrange’s method, despite seeming like a mere mathematical convenience at the time, loosened the straitjacket of Newton’s mechanistic view of the universe as a sequence of falling dominos.
—Charlie Wood, WIRED, 3 Nov. 2024
Jeremy Gordon, New York Times, 3 May 2020
Trump was not straitjacketed by the laws and customs governing foundations, or by the most basic ethical norms.
—Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 13 Nov. 2019
See all Example Sentences for straitjacket 
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Noun
Trump should make clear that Washington will no longer allow the accord to impose a straitjacket on broader U.S. policy in the Middle East.
—Tzvi Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2017
Lagrange’s method, despite seeming like a mere mathematical convenience at the time, loosened the straitjacket of Newton’s mechanistic view of the universe as a sequence of falling dominos.
—Charlie Wood, WIRED, 3 Nov. 2024
Verb
Hip-hop from that period often incorporated sampling, a technique that was legally straitjacketed by 1991.
—Jeremy Gordon, New York Times, 3 May 2020
Trump was not straitjacketed by the laws and customs governing foundations, or by the most basic ethical norms.
—Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 13 Nov. 2019
See all Example Sentences for straitjacket
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Dictionary Entries Near straitjacket
Cite this Entry
“Straitjacket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straitjacket. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
straitjacket
noun
strait·jack·et
variants
also straightjacket
: a cover or garment of strong material (as canvas) used to bind the body and especially the arms closely in restraining a violent prisoner or patient
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