# restrict

/ɹiˈstɹɪkt/ (US) · /ɹɪstɹˈɪkt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/restrict
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. to limit or control

verb · CEFR B2 · Academic

to limit someone's actions or to keep something within a certain size or amount.

For teachers: to keep someone or something within specific limits or boundaries. Transitive — requires a direct object.

- The new laws restrict how much noise people can make late at night.
- The government decided to restrict the flow of capital out of the country to stabilise the national currency during the crisis.

### 2. to limit to a specific area

verb · CEFR B2

to keep someone or something inside a particular place or group.

For teachers: to confine or keep within a specific physical or metaphorical boundary; often used with the preposition 'to'.

- Access to the building is restricted to staff members only.
- The search for the missing documents was restricted to the archives, as the investigators believed they had never left the premises.

### 3. mathematical domain

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to look at a mathematical rule only for a smaller group of numbers.

For teachers: to consider a function as defined only on a subset of its original domain.

- If we restrict the function to positive numbers, we can find the square root easily.
- By restricting the domain of the trigonometric function, we can define a unique inverse that satisfies the requirements of the proof.

Usage: The verb is used transitively, often in the form 'restrict f to A'.

## Examples

- The new law will restrict the sale of sugary drinks.
- The hospital decided to restrict visiting hours to the afternoon to ensure patients got enough rest.
- By choosing to restrict the domain of the function to positive integers, the researchers were able to simplify the model without losing significant predictive power.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.