durance
incarceration or imprisonment (often used in the phrase durance vile).
Archaic. endurance.
Origin of durance
1Words Nearby durance
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use durance in a sentence
The two weeks of durance vile among the low castes in the steerage should be amply repaid.
The Adventures of Kathlyn | Harold MacGrathHere his charge ended, he had conveyed the Land-despoiler to durance vile.
A German Pompadour | Marie HayHere he was held in durance for some time, and was then brought to Paris to be tried for treason.
Louis Philippe | John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott"The best friend Christina ever had" she would surely some day see could not have lingered in the black durance that he loathed.
"Persons Unknown" | Virginia TracyBut the case was very different, when Hannibal crossed from the shores of the durance to the banks of the Po.
British Dictionary definitions for durance (1 of 2)
/ (ˈdjʊərəns) /
imprisonment
duration
Origin of durance
1British Dictionary definitions for Durance (2 of 2)
/ (French dyrɑ̃s) /
a river in S France, rising in the Alps and flowing generally southwest into the Rhône. Length: 304 km (189 miles)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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