enslave

American  

[en-sleyv] / ɛnˈsleɪv /

verb (used with object)

enslaved, enslaving

1. to make a slave of; hold (someone) in slavery or bondage.

   Spartacus was enslaved by the Romans, fought as a gladiator, and later led an insurrection in 73 B.C.

   Synonyms:

   dominate, control, shackle, enchain

   Antonyms:

   release, liberate, free

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enslave British  

/ ɪnˈsleɪv /

verb

1. (tr) to make a slave of; reduce to slavery; subjugate

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Other Word Forms

• enslavement noun
• enslaver noun
• reenslave verb (used with object)
• reenslavement noun

Etymology

Origin of enslave

First recorded in 1635–45; en- ¹ + slave

Example Sentences

During the abolitionist movement and the war itself, the North Star became a practical element of enslaved African-Americans’ looking to the heavens, a beacon of freedom and hope.

From The Wall Street Journal

Vainglorious comments made by Diogenes when he himself was enslaved—captured and sold by pirates—indicate that even then he saw himself more as master than servant.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hundreds of enslaved Africans were imprisoned for weeks at a time in places such as Cape Coast Castle, which Mr. Kara describes in detail following his visit there while researching the book.

From The Wall Street Journal

He was the namesake of the boxer later known as Muhammad Ali, whose ancestors had been enslaved by the white Cassius’s cousin Henry Clay, the antebellum orator and senator.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Declaration proclaimed all men created equal, yet the new nation’s economy depended on enslaved labor in the South and indentured servitude in the North.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• coerce
• deprive
• disenfranchise
• imprison
• incarcerate
• oppress
• shackle
• subjugate
• suppress