house arrest

American  

noun

• house arrests
  plural

1. confinement of an arrested person to their residence or to a public place, such as a hospital, instead of in a jail.

   He was under house arrest until the day of his trial.

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house arrest British  

noun

1. confinement to one's own home

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house arrest Cultural  

1. Forcible detention in one's house rather than in a prison. House arrest is used by some nations as a way to silence political dissent without the elaborate trials and criminal proceedings that would bring bad publicity.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• house arrests
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of house arrest

First recorded in 1935–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

house arrest

He is due to start serving that sentence after his house arrest ends, which is expected in August 2028.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026

Days after Najib's December bid for house arrest was turned down, the ex-PM was again sentenced to another 15 years behind bars in a separate trial, also linked to the 1MDB graft scandal.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

The Philippines requested "brief access" for Lazaro to meet Suu Kyi in April, after authorities said she was moved from prison to house arrest.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison late last year, the former president is now serving his sentence under house arrest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Provision was also made for house arrest, the most well-known use of which was imposed on the white political activist Helen Joseph.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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