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

In 2012, Shankar was moved to a new enclosure that left him virtually in solitary confinement - despite a 2009 federal ban on keeping elephants alone for more than six months.

Read more on BBC

It includes deciding on the fate of Ocalan, who has been in solitary confinement since 1999, and possible security guarantees for his fighters.

Read more on Barron's

But they raised serious concerns about overcrowding, solitary confinement, food hygiene, the complaints process, the daily regime and the treatment of vulnerable prisoners.

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Mr. Lai is the imprisoned newspaper owner who has spent nearly five years in Hong Kong jails—most of it in solitary confinement—as he’s being tried for collusion with foreign forces.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Government attorney Jonathan Ross argued that “evidence shows detainees at B-18 are meeting with attorneys, they have access to counsel” and argued that “conditions of confinement are not an issue before the court.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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