durance
noun
incarceration or imprisonment (often used in the phrasedurance vile ).
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durance
American
[door-uhns, dyoor-]
/ ˈdʊər əns, ˈdjʊər- /
durance
1
British
/ ˈdjʊərəns /
noun
-
imprisonment
-
duration
Durance
2
British
/ dyrɑ̃s /
noun
Etymology
Origin of durance
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French. See dure 2, -ance
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:
And I said: My dear, I have been in durance vile.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
But durance has been considerably less vile for the eleven G.I.s held by Cambodia since their landing craft strayed out of Vietnamese waters July 17.
From Time Magazine Archive
She possesses spunk, stamina and en durance, but she lacks the strength of parity.
From Time Magazine Archive
Take them out of durance vile and put them both to work at the airport.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was the probation, the durance; they all three accepted it; I dont believe there was ever any promise between Henry and Bon demanded or offered.
From "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner
Last year, a British man died after getting into difficulty on the river Durance, which also passes through Briancon.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2025
Both the Guisane and Durance are popular rivers for white water rafting, fed by glaciers and snowmelt in the spring.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2025
Ms. Siegel was the first in a long line of Lois Lanes, who have included Phyllis Coates, Noel Neill, Teri Hatcher, and Erica Durance on television and Margot Kidder in the movies.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2011
Old records show that their territories became modern dioceses on the Durance.
From Time Magazine Archive
St. Remy is four leagues from Avignon: at the end of the second mile, we crossed by a ferry the Durance, a mighty Alpine torrent.
From Four Years in France or, Narrative of an English Family's Residence there during that Period; Preceded by some Account of the Conversion of the Author to the Catholic Faith by Beste, Henry Digby
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.
