house arrest

noun

1. confinement of an arrested person to their residence or to a public place, such as a hospital, instead of in a jail.

   He was under house arrest until the day of his trial.

house arrest

noun

1. confinement to one's own home

house arrest

1. Forcible detention in one's house rather than in a prison. House arrest is used by some nations as a way to silence political dissent without the elaborate trials and criminal proceedings that would bring bad publicity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of house arrest¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation and a year of house arrest.

Read more on Salon

The former president is not facing prosecution and was also released from house arrest where he had reportedly remained, although Gabonese authorities said he was free to move about as he wished.

Read more on BBC

After his father was overthrown by rebels and killed in 2011, he fled to Syria and then had lived under house arrest in Oman with his wife Aline Skaf.

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Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner, already serving a six-year fraud sentence under house arrest, went on trial Thursday in a new corruption case described as the biggest in her country's history.

Read more on Barron's

Mystery still shrouds Zhang’s escape in July, following a late night court hearing in Mexico City when a judge unexpectedly granted him house arrest.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal