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prisoner

American  
[priz-uh-ner, priz-ner] / ˈprɪz ə nər, ˈprɪz nər /

noun

  1. a person who is confined in prison or kept in custody, especially as the result of legal process.

  2. prisoner of war.

  3. a person or thing that is deprived of liberty or kept in restraint.

prisoner British  
/ ˈprɪzənə /

noun

  1. 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

  2. a person confined by any of various restraints

    we are all prisoners of time

  3. informal to be uncompromising and resolute in one's actions

  4. to capture and hold someone as a prisoner, esp as a prisoner of war

"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

Etymology

Origin of prisoner

1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French. See prison, -er 2

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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.

This is the second mass prisoner release this year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Determined to set things right, Kornev insists on seeing the prisoner, Stepniak, only to discover how difficult such a seemingly straightforward request proves to be.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

The alleged TdA members were later transferred from El Salvador to Venezuela in a prisoner swap.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

Directed by Bille August, this ‘Masterpiece’ adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic stars Sam Claflin as the wronged seaman and Jeremy Irons as his friend and fellow prisoner.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

For those few seconds I was not a prisoner in a Nazi ghetto, trapped behind high walls, but a twelve-year-old boy like any other, relishing the mix of danger and excitement.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.