Literary notes about constrict (AI summary)
The word "constrict" in literature often evokes a sense of tightening or compressing, whether describing physical binding or the emotional tightening of the heart. It is used to portray tangible forces, such as a snake coiling around its target [1, 2, 3] or a belt that limits the body's freedom [4, 5], while also serving as a metaphor for the tightening of internal states, as when a character’s heart or throat feels the pressure of overwhelming emotion [6, 7, 8, 9]. Additionally, the term appears in contexts that highlight natural or anatomical processes, describing the narrowing of cellular structures or bodily passages [10, 11, 12]. This duality of literal and figurative use enriches the narrative, allowing writers to convey both physical and metaphorical restraint in a vivid, compelling manner [13, 14].
- They began to constrict and wind tighter around him.
— from The Red Hell of Jupiter by Paul Ernst - And yet, a twenty-foot regal python with a bad heart—like Nansen's polar bear—could easily constrict and kill any available snake of smaller size.
— from The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations by William T. (William Temple) Hornaday - The snake raised its ugly head and hissed, ceasing for a moment to constrict its coils about the unfortunate man.
— from Tom Swift in Captivity, Or, A Daring Escape By Airship by Victor Appleton - Wherever our clothing touches us, wherever the air touches us, wherever shoes or belts constrict us, there are definite sensations.
— from Psychotherapy Including the History of the Use of Mental Influence, Directly and Indirectly, in Healing and the Principles for the Application of Energies Derived from the Mind to the Treatment of Disease by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh - Clothing should not constrict the body or hamper its movements.
— from American Red Cross Text-Book on Home Hygiene and Care of the Sick by American National Red Cross - Dale felt a stifling hand constrict about her heart.
— from The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart - And a slow, contracting pressure enveloped his breast and moved up to constrict his throat.
— from To the Last Man by Zane Grey - Then he felt his heart constrict, his orientation spin.
— from Project Daedalus by Thomas Hoover - Yet they could hear for awhile their own strained breathing, and Phil felt his heart constrict painfully after his long flight.
— from The Quest of the Four: A Story of the Comanches and Buena Vista by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler - As the chromosomes go toward the poles the cell-body begins to constrict at the equator.
— from The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation by Austin O'Malley - Constric´ted (constrict + ed), contracted so as to be smaller in one or more places than in others.
— from Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi How to select and cook the edible; how to distinguish and avoid the poisonous, with full botanic descriptions. Toadstool poisons and their treatment, instructions to students, recipes for cooking, etc., etc. by Charles McIlvaine - [G] Sphincter is an anatomical term applied to circular muscles which constrict or close certain natural orifices.
— from The Mechanism of the Human Voice by Emil Behnke - His throbbing pity vitalises his propaganda, so that it not only ceases to constrict his art, but positively enriches it.
— from John Galsworthy by Sheila Kaye-Smith - The error deforms his faith as much as it tends to stiffen and constrict his life.
— from Studies of Christianity; Or, Timely Thoughts for Religious Thinkers by James Martineau
