restrict

To limit what someone can do, or how much of something is allowed.

• The rules restrict parking here.
• They restricted access to staff members.
• Does the injury restrict your movement?

How to use it: restrict something to someone/something (They restrict entry to ticket holders.); restrict yourself to something (I restricted myself to one slice of cake.)

Similar words: limit, control, constrain

Opposites: allow

Common phrases: restrict access, restrict movement, restrict something to

To use a mathematical function only for a smaller set of its possible input values.

• We restrict the function to positive inputs.
• She restricted the domain to a closed interval.
• Can we restrict this function to integers?

How to use it: restrict a function to something (We restrict the function to values between zero and one.)

Common phrases: restrict a function, restrict the domain