straitjacket

UK: /ˈstreɪtdʒækɪt/ US: /ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt/ ,(strāt′jak′it)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

strait•jack•et or straight•jack•et /ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt/   n. 

[countable]
1. a garment made of strong material, often strapped in the back, designed to keep the arms tightly bound:
   The attendants put the violently deranged man in a straitjacket.
2. anything that severely constricts or prevents (one) from progress, activity, or the like:
   High interest rates are a straitjacket on the economy.

v. [~ + object]

3. to put in or as if in a straitjacket:
   The government straitjacketed any expression of free thought.

See -strain-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

strait•jack•et  (strāt′jak′it), n. 

1. a garment made of strong material and designed to bind the arms, as of a violently disoriented person.
2. anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders:
   Conventional attitudes can be a straitjacket, preventing original thinking.

v.t. Also, strait′-jack′et. 

3. to put in or as in a straitjacket:
   Her ambition was straitjacketed by her family.
   Also, straightjacket. 

• strait + jacket 1805–15

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

straitjacket / ˈstreɪtˌdʒækɪt/ noun

1. Also called: straightjacket a jacket made of strong canvas material with long sleeves for binding the arms of violent prisoners or psychiatric patients
2. a severe restriction or limitation

verb

1. (transitive) to confine in or as if in a straitjacket