prisoner
Americannoun
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prisoners
plural
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a person who is confined in prison or kept in custody, especially as the result of legal process.
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a person or thing that is deprived of liberty or kept in restraint.
noun
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a person deprived of liberty and kept in prison or some other form of custody as a punishment for a crime, while awaiting trial, or for some other reason
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a person confined by any of various restraints
we are all prisoners of time
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informal to be uncompromising and resolute in one's actions
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to capture and hold someone as a prisoner, esp as a prisoner of war
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of prisoner
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How does prisoner compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A prisoner is a person being held in prison as a punishment. During wartime a prisoner is someone held captive by the enemy. Alternately, if you’re so attractive you can’t leave the house, you’re a prisoner of your own good looks. Someone who's caught robbing a bank or stealing a car will probably become a prisoner, locked inside a prison for as long as the sentence specifies. If you feel stuck or confined in some way, you may consider yourself a metaphorical prisoner, like an actor who whines that he’s a prisoner of his own success, since he’s not able to go anywhere without cameras flashing and fans screaming.
Vocabulary lists containing prisoner
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:
Lantratova in turn told AFP in Moscow that the pair -- who earlier worked together on arranging prisoner releases -- had "developed a very constructive and simply good relationship. We get on really well."
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has demanded an official apology over the prisoner revelation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
It was three years before they were reunited with their parents in a prisoner exchange.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
He was released in a major prisoner swap in August 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Thus, he was neither taken prisoner by his enemies, who had fled, nor by his auxiliaries, since he triumphed with troops other than theirs.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Another unlikely friend of the American prisoners is the princess’s cousin, Capt. Constantin “Buzz” Cantacuzino, a fighter ace and prince whose ancestry reaches back to Vlad the Impaler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
News agency PTI reported that all 17 recaptured prisoners have been moved to high-security correctional prisons.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
“I felt a huge burden on my shoulders when I left prison that made me feel I owed something to my fellow prisoners who were left behind,” Panahi told The Envelope earlier this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Data shows that undertrial prisoners - individuals who are detained while they await police investigation or court trials - make up more than 73% of India's total prison population.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Or perhaps some of the prisoners from Haarlem had been interrogated and the truth about our group was known.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
