confinement

[kuhn-fahyn-muhnt]

noun

1. the act of confining.

2. the state of being confined. confined.

3. the lying-in of a woman in childbed; accouchement; childbirth.

4. Military.,  incarceration in a guardhouse or prison while awaiting trial or as a punishment (arrest ).

confinement

/ kənˈfaɪnmənt /

noun

1. the act of confining or the state of being confined

2. the period from the onset of labour to the birth of a child

3. physics another name for containment

Other Word Forms

• nonconfinement noun
• postconfinement noun
• preconfinement noun
• self-confinement noun
• semiconfinement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of confinement¹

1640–50; confine + -ment; compare French confinement

Example Sentences

Japaridze, like all the jailed politicians, is held in solitary confinement.

Read more on BBC

Zap's sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch seeks a balance between strong compression and sustained confinement.

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The only available bed was in solitary confinement.

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According to the complaint, the inmate spent a little more than a week in solitary confinement before returning to the yard where Fischgrund worked.

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Spain on Thursday extended poultry confinement measures to all its regions, after initially restricting birds to indoor enclosures in high-risk areas, the agriculture ministry said.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• custody 
• detention 
• incarceration 
• internment 
• jail 
• repression