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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.

She has opened Venezuela's vast oil industry to foreign investment, sacked officials suspected of corruption, released scores of political prisoners and, according to Bogota, begun pushing Colombian rebels back across the border.

From Barron's

An amnesty statute freed more than 3,000 political prisoners, according to the government.

From Barron's

Just as there were prisoners of war, there were also civilians caught behind enemy lines.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the days following the U.S.’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, his government pledged to release a significant number of political prisoners, calling it a gesture “to seek peace.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Playing a hard-line political prisoner in 1983 Argentina, his Valentin starts the film rejecting everything it stands for: romance, fantasy, overwhelming emotions.

From Los Angeles Times