How to Use restrain in a Sentence

restrain

verb
  • He was restrained and placed in a holding cell.
  • He could not restrain the dog from attacking.
  • He could barely restrain his anger.
  • He could restrain himself no longer.
  • The manufacturer took measures to restrain costs.
  • Hospital orderlies needed to restrain the patient.
  • He was restrained all the time.
    — O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 1 June 2026
  • He can be heard yelling for help while he is being restrained.
    — Louisa Moller, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Guards restrained them with handcuffs on their feet and hands.
    — Federico Rios, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025
  • He was grabbed by two deputies who restrained his arms and handcuffed him.
    — Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2024
  • The girl said the sisters beat her, starved her, and restrained her.
    — Louis Casiano , Brooke Taylor, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Khayo said the boy was restrained and locked in the room with no food and no blankets.
    — Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Another man then seems to restrain the man in the blue shirt.
    — Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2022
  • Like even the idea of a ‘you’ that can restrain ‘yourself’ doesn’t quite get at it.
    — Jennifer Wilson, The New Republic, 6 Nov. 2020
  • Her phone falls out of her hands as the officer tries to restrain her.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 30 Aug. 2021
  • He was found restrained in the rear ejection seat of the wreckage.
    — Forum News Service, Twin Cities, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Another struck him with his knee as the third helped restrain him.
    — Robert Medley, USA TODAY, 22 Aug. 2022
  • As the woman resists, the agents move in to restrain her.
    — Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Lane knelt on Floyd’s legs and also used his hands to restrain them.
    — Chao Xiong, Star Tribune, 22 Oct. 2020
  • Dyker grabs her arm and struggles to restrain her, the video shows.
    — Megan Crepeau, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2022
  • Some were seen lying on the ground while police tried to restrain them.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 10 Feb. 2026
  • The dog, which was not restrained, charged at one of the officers.
    — Jt Moodee Lockman, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Park staff were able to restrain the tiger before paramedics arrived.
    — Angus Watson, CNN, 2 Sep. 2024
  • At times, the boy was restrained and choked and assaulted in his dorm room bed.
    — Richard Winton follow, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2025
  • As those on set prepared to shoot the scene, the wolves had to be restrained from Hoult.
    — Rachel Raposas, People.com, 25 Dec. 2024
  • There are all these ideas of how to restrain the power of the president.
    — Abc News, ABC News, 9 May 2024
  • Ivery yells as several agents restrain him.
    — Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025
  • And Keyes has to go back downstairs in order to restrain him again.
    — Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 13 Mar. 2021
  • The point is not to restrain the natural world, but to compose it.
    — Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • That rise in prices is going to restrain the pace of consumer spending.
    — Scott Horsley, NPR, 18 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'restrain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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