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Capable of being restrained; controllable. Sir T. Browne.

The state of being restrained.

Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult. His headstrong riot hath no curb. Shak.

Involving, or engaging in, riot; wanton; unrestrained; luxurious. The younger son . . . took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. Luke xv. 13.

orderly; easily restrained; -- opposed to Ant: unruly. [Obs.] Gascoigne.

y sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh, smile, or some facial semblance of gayety. Where strained, sardonic smiles are glozing still, And grief is forced to laugh against her will. Sir H. Wotton. The scornful, ferocious, sardonic grin of a bloody ruffian. Burke. Sardonic grin or laugh, an old medical term for a spasmo…

In a sawmill, the rectangular frame in which the saw is strained and by which it is carried up and down with a reciprocating motion; - - also called gate. French sash, a casement swinging on hinges; -- in distinction from a vertical sash sliding up and down.

December, originally during one day, but afterward during seven days, as a period of unrestrained license and merriment for all classes, extending even to the slaves.

Of unrestrained and intemperate jollity; riotously merry; dissolute. "Saturnalian amusement." Burke.

g unneccessary ornament, amplification, etc.; strict; -- said of style, argument, etc. "Restrained by reason and severe principles." Jer. Taylor. The Latin, a most severe and compendious language. Dryden.

A constrained, self-conscious smile; an affected, silly smile; a smirk. The conscious simper, and the jealous leer. Pope.

Artless in manner; unaffected; unconstrained; natural; inartificial;; straightforward. In simple manners all the secret lies. Young.

With a restrained voice or moderate force; in an undertone.

dency to undergo change, characteristic of both animal and vegetable organisms, and not restrained or cheked by the environment.

Said of a spar that has been cracked or strained.

Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style. The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved. Addison.

To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship.

Capable of being strained.

Restricted; stiff; constrained. [R.] Fuller.

Distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained. Stress of voice, unusual exertion of the voice. -- Stress of weather, constraint imposed by continued bad weather; as, to be driven back to port by stress of weather. -- To lay stress upon, to attach great importance to; to emphasize. "Consider how great a…