prisoner

[priz-uh-ner, priz-ner]

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

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of prisoner¹

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

Example Sentences

That same year, Riyadh helped broker a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Guilty prisoners who admit to their crimes and are released on parole get a place to live and some help with living expenses.

Read more on BBC

One of the state prisoners seeking a reduced term is John Crawford, who was sentenced in L.A.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The exchange of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Read more on Barron's

Turkey has hosted three rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks this year that have yielded only prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of killed soldiers' bodies.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• captive 
• convict 
• detainee 
• hostage