bridle: [OE] The Old English word was brīdel, which came from the same source (Germanic *bregd-) as braid. The basic meaning element of this was something like ‘pull or twitch jerkily from side to side’, so the application to bridle, which one pulls on with reins to one side or the other to control the horse’s direction, is fairly clear. The metaphorical verbal sense ‘take offence’ dates from the 18th century. => braid
"to control, dominate," c. 1200, from Old English bridlian "to fit with a bridle," from bridel (see bridle (n.)). Meaning "to throw up the head" (as a horse does when reined in) is from mid-15c. Related: Bridled; bridling.