Synonyms

house arrest

American

noun

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 British

noun

confinement to one's own home

"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

house arrest Cultural

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

house arrests

plural

Etymology

Origin of house arrest

First recorded in 1935–40

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:

house arrest

Having been arrested in Hungary in 2019, he was extradited to Portugal and has at various points been in solitary confinement, under house arrest and in witness protection.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

This, she said, restricted the royal family's movement and their ability to receive visitors, describing it as "house arrest".

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Huawei’s chief financial officer was arrested in Canada on related charges and spent nearly three years under house arrest before admitting to wrongdoing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Suu Kyi, now 81, was moved to house arrest later that month after Min Aung Hlaing said he had commuted the rest of her sentence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

“The police are with her now. They put her under house arrest and I have to stand guard.”

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023