noun
- a head harness for guiding a horse: it consists of headstall, bit, and reins
- anything resembling a horse's bridle
- anything that controls or restrains
- frenum
- a connecting metal strip for limiting motion in machinery
- Naut. a cable with the ends fast and another cable attached to it between the ends for applying force, as in towing a ship
Origin:
ME & OE bridel < bregdan, move quickly: see braid
transitive verb bridled, bridling
- to put a bridle on
- to curb or control with or as with a bridle