straitjacket Hear it!

straitjacket Definition

strait·jacket (strātjak′it)

noun

  1. a coatlike device that binds the arms tight against the body: used to restrain persons in a violent state
  2. anything that confines or limits

transitive verb

to confine or restrict with or as with a straitjacket

straitjacket Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • rule: It avoids the straitjacket of rigid rules which can apply harshly or unfairly in an individual case.
  • rate: Why on earth should we accept the straitjacket of a one-size-fits-all interest rate when it's not the right rate for our economy?

Converse of object

  • impose: Could the economic straitjacket imposed by the Euro be part of the problem?
  • become: It should never be allowed to become a straitjacket.
  • escape: It is to escape the straitjacket of the traditional comprehensive school and embrace the idea of genuinely independent non-fee paying state schools.
  • loosen: Secondly, they will need to find ways to loosen the financial straitjacket.
  • use: His escapes were real and certified by police officers and military personnel, because he used real straitjackets, handcuffs, chains and locks.

Adjective modifier

  • economic: Could the economic straitjacket imposed by the Euro be part of the problem?
  • legal: But it was left to the anti-union Thatcherite governments ' of the ' 80s to impose the legal straitjacket we have today.
  • regulatory: But the reality is that today's designers have to work within a regulatory straitjacket dictated by the FIA rules.
  • ideological: It is in the arts and social sciences that the ideological straitjacket has been most severe.
  • three-year: A three-year straitjacket is inefficient and produces inflated budgets padded out for safety.
  • contractual: The contractual straitjacket under which George Eastham labored had changed little since the era of Kingaby himself.

Modifies a noun

  • escape: I introduced myself and told them that I had a big straitjacket escape record planned, and it all fell into place from there.