quarantine
a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease.
a period, originally 40 days, of detention or isolation imposed upon ships, persons, animals, or plants on arrival at a port or place, when suspected of carrying some infectious or contagious disease.
a system of measures maintained by governmental authority at ports, frontiers, etc., for preventing the spread of disease.
the branch of the governmental service concerned with such measures.
a place or station at which such measures are carried out, as a special port or dock where ships are detained.
the detention or isolation enforced.
the place, especially a hospital, where people are detained.
a period of 40 days.
social, political, or economic isolation imposed as a punishment, as in ostracizing an individual or enforcing sanctions against a foreign state.
to put in or subject to quarantine.
to exclude, detain, or isolate for political, social, or hygienic reasons.
Origin of quarantine
1Other words from quarantine
- quar·an·tin·a·ble, adjective
- quar·an·tin·er, noun
- pre·quar·an·tine, noun, verb (used with object), pre·quar·an·tined, pre·quar·an·tin·ing.
- un·quar·an·tined, adjective
Words Nearby quarantine
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use quarantine in a sentence
As experts point out, a person who can fly to another country for a vaccine is also a person most likely able to withstand a few more months of quarantine.
Bypassing the quarantine through advance testing has begun to reverse the trend — Maui visitorship in December was about one-third of normal.
A member of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s security detail tested positive for the coronavirus Monday, sending Buttigieg into a 14-day quarantine less than a week after being sworn in.
Buttigieg to quarantine for 14 days after security agent tests positive for coronavirus | Michael Laris | February 8, 2021 | Washington PostBut, in new research conducted with Digiday, surveying more than 200 senior marketers in Europe, 58% of brands say they saw increased creativity in their in-house teams during a time of quarantine.
Quarantine drove increased creativity for in-house teams | Veronica Zegarra | February 8, 2021 | DigidayThey made just one small slip-up after what they described as months of “torturous” quarantine.
900,000 infected. Nearly 15,000 dead. How the coronavirus tore through D.C., Maryland and Virginia. | Rebecca Tan, Antonio Olivo, John D. Harden | February 5, 2021 | Washington Post
AIDS insanity: When running for the US Senate in 1992, Huckabee called for a quarantine of people who had AIDS.
Adding an extra three weeks of quarantine on to every trip makes it hard to fit this coverage into our lives.
But the secrecy and fear surrounding the once-successful quarantine has now put the region in even greater danger.
The quarantine had either failed by then, or did shortly after.
But the quarantine, lifted just 10 days in, was a colossal failure.
The infection of the eye is very severe and dangerous, and the usual quarantine is to be observed.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin MalleyThe climax to all of our troubles was the making out of our declaration and being held in quarantine at Ellis Island.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia AustrianIn 1890 cholera appeared in Tripoli and all steamers stopped calling at the port, to avoid quarantine.
Silver Chimes in Syria | W. S. NelsonMartha's pencil followed the list down, making a light check after the name while she dialed quarantine to send in the man.
Unthinkable | Roger Phillips GrahamAll I can say is that full quarantine measures are now in force as of fifteen minutes ago.
Unthinkable | Roger Phillips Graham
British Dictionary definitions for quarantine
/ (ˈkwɒrənˌtiːn) /
a period of isolation or detention, esp of persons or animals arriving from abroad, to prevent the spread of disease, usually consisting of the maximum known incubation period of the suspected disease
the place or area where such detention is enforced
any period or state of enforced isolation
to isolate in or as if in quarantine
Australian to withhold (a portion of a welfare payment) from a person or group of people
Origin of quarantine
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for quarantine
[ (kwawr-uhn-teen, kwahr-uhn-teen) ]
The isolation of people who either have a contagious disease or have been exposed to one, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.
Notes for quarantine
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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