imprison

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English imprisonen, emprisounen, emprisonen, from Old French emprisonner. Equivalent to im- +‎ prison.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪmˈpɹɪzən/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪzən
  • Hyphenation: im‧pris‧on

Verb

imprison (third-person singular simple present imprisons, present participle imprisoning, simple past and past participle imprisoned)

  1. (transitive) To put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will.
    • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 214, about Halton Holegate:
      One of the village's most notable sons was Thomas Grantham, a Baptist church leader born in 1634, who was persecuted and imprisoned in the struggle for nonconformist beliefs during the reign of Charles II.
    • 1985 December 21, Mara Math, “Fen (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 23, page 15:
      None of these people has ever had what they really wanted, and if they get a glimmer of it, they back off suspiciously, failures of imagination helping to imprison them further.
    • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 87:
      [...] demand for the boots fell sharply after the Battle of Waterloo, and Brunel was imprisoned for debt in 1821.

Usage notes

  • The term to imprison implies a sentencing has taken place when used to describe actions taken by a legal system, whereas to jail may imply a temporary holding before a trial, conviction, and sentencing.

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