v. t. -- Ad*stric"tion, pos>n. See Astrict, and Astriction. [1913 Webster]

a. See Astrictory. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Astricted; p. pr. & vb. n. Astricting. ] [ L. astrictus, p. p. of astringere. See Astringe. ] 1. To bind up; to confine; to constrict; to contract. [ 1913 Webster ]

The solid parts were to be relaxed or astricted. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bind; to constrain; to restrict; to limit. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The mind is astricted to certain necessary modes or forms of thought. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Scots Law) To restrict the tenure of; as, to astrict lands. See Astriction, 4. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Concise; contracted. [ Obs. ] Weever. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. astrictio. ] 1. The act of binding; restriction; also, obligation. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) (a) A contraction of parts by applications; the action of an astringent substance on the animal economy. Dunglison. (b) Constipation. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Astringency. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Scots Law) An obligation to have the grain growing on certain lands ground at a certain mill, the owner paying a toll. Bell. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The lands were said to be astricted to the mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Binding; astringent. -- n. An astringent. -- As*tric"tive*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

a. Astrictive. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ NL. See Boa, and Constrictor. ] (Zool.) A large and powerful serpent of tropical America, sometimes twenty or thirty feet long. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It has a succession of spots, alternately black and yellow, extending along the back. It kills its prey by constriction. The name is also loosely applied to other large serpents which crush their prey, particularly to those of the genus Python, found in Asia and Africa. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Constricted; p. pr. & vb. n. Constricting. ] [ L. constrictus, p. p. of constringere. See Constrain. ] To draw together; to render narrower or smaller; to bind; to cramp; to contract or cause to shrink. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such things as constrict the fibers. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Membranous organs inclosing a cavity which their contraction serves to constrict. Todd & Bowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Drawn together; bound; contracted; cramped. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Contracted or compressed so as to be smaller in certain places or parts than in others. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. hindering freedom of movement.
Syn. -- binding. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. being reduced in width.
Syn. -- constrictive, narrowing. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. constrictio: cf. F. constriction. ] 1. The act of constricting by means of some inherent power or by movement or change in the thing itself, as distinguished from compression. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being constricted; the point where a thing is constricted; a narrowing or binding. [ 1913 Webster ]

A constriction of the parts inservient to speech. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Serving or tending to bind or constrict. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. That which constricts, draws together, or contracts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) A muscle which contracts or closes an orifice, or which compresses an organ; a sphincter. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A serpent that kills its prey by inclosing and crushing it with its folds; as, the boa constrictor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Districted; p. pr. & vb. n. Districting. ] To divide into districts or limited portions of territory; as, legislatures district States for the choice of representatives. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. districtus, p. p. ] Rigorous; stringent; harsh. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Punishing with the rod of district severity. Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. districtus district, fr. L. districtus, p. p. of distringere: cf. F. district. See Distrain. ] 1. (Feudal Law) The territory within which the lord has the power of coercing and punishing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A division of territory; a defined portion of a state, town, or city, etc., made for administrative, electoral, or other purposes; as, a congressional district, judicial district, land district, school district, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

To exercise exclusive legislation . . . over such district not exceeding ten miles square. The Constitution of the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any portion of territory of undefined extent; a region; a country; a tract. [ 1913 Webster ]

These districts which between the tropics lie. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Congressional district. See under Congressional. --
District attorney, the prosecuting officer of a district or district court. --
District court, a subordinate municipal, state, or United States tribunal, having jurisdiction in certain cases within a judicial district. --
District judge, one who presides over a district court. --
District school, a public school for the children within a school district. [ U.S. ]

Syn. -- Division; circuit; quarter; province; tract; region; country. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. districtio a stretching out. ] Sudden display; flash; glitter. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A smile . . . breaks out with the brightest distriction. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Strictly. [ Obs. ] Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. obstringere, obstrictum, to bind to or about. ] The state of being constrained, bound, or obliged; that which constrains or obliges; obligation; bond. [ R. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Excessively strict. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praestrictio a binding fast, fr. praestringere. See Pre-, and Stringent. ] Obstruction, dimness, or defect of sight. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To divide into new districts. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A district or neighborhood in which houses of prostitution are located; -- so called in allusion to the red light kept in front of many such resorts at night. [ Colloq. or Cant ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

a. [ L. restrictus, p. p. of restringere. See Restrain. ] Restricted. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Restricted; p. pr. & vb. n. Restricting. ] To restrain within bounds; to limit; to confine; as, to restrict worlds to a particular meaning; to restrict a patient to a certain diet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To limit; bound; circumscribe; restrain; repress; curb; coerce. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. restriction, L. restrictio. ] 1. The act of restricting, or state of being restricted; confinement within limits or bounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is to have the same restriction with all other recreations, that it be made a divertisement. Giv. of Tonque. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which restricts; limitation; restraint; as, restrictions on trade. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Restrictive. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. restrictif. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Serving or tending to restrict; limiting; as, a restrictive particle; restrictive laws of trade. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Astringent or styptic in effect. [ Obs. ] Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

--Re*strict"ive*ly, adv. -- Re*strict"ive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Stricter superl. Strictest. ] [ L. strictus, p. p. of stringere to draw or bind tight, to strain. See Strain, and cf. Strait, a. ] 1. Strained; drawn close; tight; as, a strict embrace; a strict ligature. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Tense; not relaxed; as, a strict fiber. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Exact; accurate; precise; rigorously nice; as, to keep strict watch; to pay strict attention. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

It shall be still in strictest measure. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous; as, very strict in observing the Sabbath. “Through the strict senteries.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Rigidly; interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted; as, to understand words in a strict sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Bot.) Upright, or straight and narrow; -- said of the shape of the plants or their flower clusters. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Exact; accurate; nice; close; rigorous; severe. -- Strict, Severe. Strict, applied to a person, denotes that he conforms in his motives and acts to a principle or code by which he is bound; severe is strict with an implication often, but not always, of harshness. Strict is opposed to lax; severe is opposed to gentle. [ 1913 Webster ]

And rules as strict his labored work confine,
As if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Soon moved with touch of blame, thus Eve: -
“What words have passed thy lips, Adam severe!” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Strict Observance, or
Friars of the Strict Observance. (R. C. Ch.) See Observance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. strictio. See Stringent. ] The act of constricting, or the state of being constricted. [ 1913 Webster ]

Line of striction (Geom.), the line on a skew surface that cuts each generator in that point of it that is nearest to the succeeding generator. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a strict manner; closely; precisely. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality or state of being strict. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. strictura a contraction, from stringere, strictum, to draw tight: cf. F. stricture. See Strict. ] 1. Strictness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A man of stricture and firm abstinence. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stroke; a glance; a touch. [ Obs. ] Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A touch of adverse criticism; censure. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ I have ] given myself the liberty of these strictures by way of reflection on all and every passage. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Med.) A localized morbid contraction of any passage of the body. Cf. Organic stricture, and Spasmodic stricture, under Organic, and Spasmodic. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Med.) Affected with a stricture; as, a strictured duct. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Physiol.) Causing constriction of the blood vessels; as, the vasoconstrictor nerves, stimulation of which causes constriction of the blood vessels to which they go. These nerves are also called vasohypertonic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Medicine, Physiology) A substance which causes constriction of the blood vessels. Such substances are used in medicine to raise abnormally low blood pressure. [ PJC ]