A verb meaning to be crowded, confined, or under pressure—either spatially cramped or emotionally/spiritually distressed. Paul uses it three times in 2 Corinthians: 'afflicted in every way, but not crushed' (4:8), and twice in 6:12 explaining that the Corinthians are not restricted by Paul's affections but 'restricted in their own affections.' The word conveys both external pressure (being hemmed in) and internal constriction (emotional narrowness or hardness). Classical uses include physical crowding, strictures in medicine, and metaphorical constraint.