confinable

Variant of confine

confine definition

con·fine (kən fīn′; for n.1 kän′fīn′)

noun

  1. a boundary or bounded region; border; limit
  2. Old Poet. confinement
  3. Obsolete a place of confinement

Etymology: ME confinies, pl. < OFr confins, pl., a border, boundary < L confinium (pl. confinia), boundary, limit < confinis, bordering on < com-, with + finis, an end: see finish

intransitive verb confined -·fined′, confining -·fin′·ing

Rare to border (on) or be contiguous (with or to another region)

Etymology: Fr confiner < the n.

transitive verb

  1. to keep within limits; restrict to confine a talk to ten minutes
  2. to keep shut up, as in prison, in bed because of illness, indoors, etc.

Related Forms:

confine Idioms

be confined

to be undergoing childbirth

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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