The Collaborative International Dictionary
Strait-jacket \Strait"-jack`et\, n. A dress of strong materials for restraining maniacs or those who are violently delirious. It has long sleeves, which are closed at the ends, confining the hands, and may be tied behind the back.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wikipedia
Strait-Jacket is a 1964 American horror thriller film starring Joan Crawford and Diane Baker in a macabre mother and daughter tale about a series of axe-murders. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film was directed and produced by William Castle, and co-produced by Dona Holloway. The screenplay was the first of two written for Castle by Robert Bloch, the second being The Night Walker (1964). Strait-Jacket marks the first big-screen appearance of Lee Majors in the uncredited role of Crawford's husband.
Usage examples of "strait-jacket".
Ive only seen George once in that timeI happened to be candling the head of a strait-jacketed neighbor on his corridorand all I did was chat.
Who'd be spending the day in a psychiatric hospital in Miami or Berne, while tranquilizers were withdrawn from one strait-jacketed victim after another, to test the effects of some non-sedative drug on the syndrome, or to obtain scans of the neuropathology unsullied by pharmacological effects?
On their walkabouts, the British agent was literally strait-jacketed in a garment which effectively disabled him from the waist up, and as if that weren't enough Karl Vyotsky was invariably present, surly bodyguard to his KGB boss.