meaning of the word "bridle"

[Haihao]

Hi,

I have got another question today from the same novel. Could you please help me out?

[Alan]

Hi Haihao,

Let's look at the passage:

Corporal Whitcomb bridled with vexation beneath the chaplain's restraint, for he spied room for improvement everywhere. It was people like the chaplain, he concluded, who were responsible for giving religion such a bad name and making pariahs out of them both.

As you probably know, a bridle is something put round a horse's head to restrain it and so in your passage the idea is that the corporal tried to restrain his irritation and as a horse does, raised his head as he controlled his feelings. In the second part I understand that 'them' and 'both' refer to the corporal and the chaplain.

Alan
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