confine
Americanverb (used with object)
-
confines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
confined,
past participle, past
-
confining
present participle
-
to enclose within bounds; limit or restrict.
She confined her remarks to errors in the report. Confine your efforts to finishing the book.
- Synonyms:
- circumscribe
- Antonyms:
- free
-
to shut or keep in; prevent from leaving a place because of imprisonment, illness, discipline, etc..
For that offense he was confined to quarters for 30 days.
- Antonyms:
- free
noun
-
Usually confines. a boundary or bound; limit; border; frontier.
-
Often confines. region; territory.
-
Archaic. confinement.
-
Obsolete. a place of confinement; prison.
verb
-
to keep or close within bounds; limit; restrict
-
to keep shut in; restrict the free movement of
arthritis confined him to bed
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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confinernoun
-
preconfineverb (used with object)
-
reconfineverb (used with object)
-
confinableadjective
-
confineableadjective
-
confinelessadjective
-
nonconfiningadjective
-
quasi-confiningadjective
-
self-confiningadjective
-
unconfinableadjective
-
unconfiningadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
confinesimple
-
confinessimple
-
have confinedperfect
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has confinedperfect
-
am confiningprogressive
-
are confiningprogressive
-
is confiningprogressive
-
have been confiningperfect progressive
-
has been confiningperfect progressive
Past
-
confinedsimple
-
had confinedperfect
-
was confiningprogressive
-
were confiningprogressive
-
had been confiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of confine
1350–1400 for noun; 1515–25 for v.; (noun) Middle English < Middle French confins, confines < Medieval Latin confinia, plural of Latin confinis boundary, border ( see con-, fine 2); (v.) < Middle French confiner, verbal derivative of confins < Latin, as above
Explanation
Confine is all about setting limits. If you are confined to the house, it means you can't leave it. If you're really sick, you might be confined to your bed. Confine can be used abstractly as well. In writing a term paper, your teacher might tell you to confine your examples to ones that you can support with direct evidence. In the 19th century, pregnancy and childbirth were often referred to as a woman's confinement—a time when she couldn't get up or out.
Vocabulary lists containing confine
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Deed restrictions confine the land to commercial and industrial use, and the groundwater remains under investigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The film’s merit is not simply in how it illustrates the structures that bind and confine, but in how Wilde propulsively peels them apart to create a picture of romantic neuroses anyone can relate to.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
"Together, they efficiently confine and enhance the twisting of light to create a strong coupling of spin between photons and electrons. This stabilizes the quantum state that makes quantum communication possible."
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026
The Dodgers have said closer Edwin Díaz is expected to return from elbow surgery sometime after the All-Star break, which would confine that time frame to two weeks, if that.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
By choice I do not confine myself to Catholic society.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Even with “Digger,” Cruise’s most ambitious project in years, he confines himself to a loud, obnoxious character destined to be written about as a “big swing.”
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
And some drivers find the cooling top uncomfortable in the tight confines of the cockpit.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
So until a drone has entered the confines of a military base, military personnel alone can’t halt it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
I’m not advocating for speeding, but you’re not bound by the confines of traffic, where you have a stoplight at every block.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
And Blanchard’s yellow silk balloon that tugged against its ropes, hungry to escape the confines of the prison yard.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
The atoms were confined inside a carefully controlled quantum system designed to remain isolated from its surroundings.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
The smell was not always confined to its physical source.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
One of the riders injured in the crash told the judge he was in critical condition for three months, confined to a bed for six additional months and still has pain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Since the start of this AI-driven bull market, pockets of outperformance for healthcare have been confined to a handful of sharp but short-lived rallies with little meaningful follow-through, Colas said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
He does not feel confined, only separate, as though he and Celia are overlapping the circus, rather than contained within it.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
She stressed the dangers of confining discussion of eating disorders to weight alone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Only one of the suspects was issued a citation for unlawfully capturing and confining wildlife, the news release said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
But under the new plans, the onus would shift to confining the offender to specific areas tailored to them.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
Some fusion systems focus on reaching the highest pressures possible, while others compensate by confining plasma for longer periods.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2025
“One book can take a lifetime to compose, copy, illuminate, gloss, and annotate! A lifetime in each book. You’ll be confining dozens of lifetimes to the flames!”
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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