strait·jack·et
ˈstrāt-ˌja-kət 
variants
or less commonly straightjacket
1
: a cover or overgarment of strong material (such as canvas) used to bind the body and especially the arms closely in restraining a violent prisoner or patient
2
: something that restricts or confines like a straitjacket
variants
or less commonly straightjacket
straitjacketed also straightjacketed; straitjacketing also straightjacketing; straitjackets also straightjackets
: to confine in or as if in a straitjacket
Examples of straitjacket in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2025
At San Clemente, a much bigger operation tasked the women with lace-making, laundering, cooking and sewing the straitjackets that were used at both institutions.
—Asia London Palomba, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2025
Jeremy Gordon, New York Times, 3 May 2020
Trump was not straitjacketed by the laws and customs governing foundations, or by the most basic ethical norms.
—Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 13 Nov. 2019
See All Example Sentences for straitjacket
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Noun
The text becomes a straitjacket for a princely son who doesn’t seem accustomed to Shakespearean rigors.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2025
At San Clemente, a much bigger operation tasked the women with lace-making, laundering, cooking and sewing the straitjackets that were used at both institutions.
—Asia London Palomba, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2025
Verb
Hip-hop from that period often incorporated sampling, a technique that was legally straitjacketed by 1991.
—Jeremy Gordon, New York Times, 3 May 2020
Trump was not straitjacketed by the laws and customs governing foundations, or by the most basic ethical norms.
—Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 13 Nov. 2019
See All Example Sentences for straitjacket
Cite this Entry
“Straitjacket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straitjacket. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
straitjacket
noun
strait·jack·et
variants
also straightjacket
: a cover or garment of strong material (as canvas) used to bind the body and especially the arms closely in restraining a violent prisoner or patient
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