confine Hear it!

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 -·fined′, -·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.

confine Related Forms

con·fin′·able adjective or con·fine′·able

confine Idioms

be confined

to be undergoing childbirth

confine Synonyms

confine

v.

  1. To keep shut up

    imprison, immure, shut in, shut up, enclose; see also hinder, imprison, separate 2.

  2. To keep within limits

    limit, restrict, circumscribe, hold back; see define 1, limit, restrain 1, restrict 2. See syn. study at limit.

confine Usage Examples

Object

  • space: The story taking place in a confined space helps, there's no escape.
  • masonry: The information aims at improving plain and confined brick masonry.
  • electron: When we confine the electrons like this, their properties can change dramatically.
  • geometry: Experiments in magnetic fields up to 60 Tesla are used to study novel electronic states in confined geometries.
  • prisoner: During the Civil War the church was used to confine prisoners, and in 1657 it was declared ruinous.
  • mean: His interests were, however, by no means confined to the human side of science.

Converse of object

escape: These works are becoming sculptural, the paper making an attempt to escape the confines of the frame.

Adjective modifier

  • cramped: You can see how Knighton escaped the cramped confines of the castle and expanded down the hill.
  • narrow: They lived lives of constant service, within the narrow confines of a home.
  • cozy: I went to the cozy confines of the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven, Big Softee!
  • rigid: Most of the fantastically talented people I know were disasters within the rigid confines of schools and universities.
  • safe: Q: Do we like to be scared within the safe confines of the movie theater?

Modifying Another Word

  • largely: British troops are largely confined to their bases for fear of much higher casualties.
  • exclusively: A quarter of a century ago the choice was confined almost exclusively to university or teachers ' training college.
  • mainly: Luckily the damage was confined mainly to the rear bumper.
  • mostly: The black grouse has been in serious decline over recent decades and it is now mostly confined to parts of the Scottish Highlands.
  • solely: These records are almost solely confined to sessional matters.
  • longer: No longer confined to working in the bedroom, wireless access to the internet has been made available in our hotels.

Preposition: in

cage: The battery hen farming system entails laying hens spending their shortened lives confined in small wire cages with many other hens.

Preposition: of

classroom: Freed from the stifling confines of classrooms, I have taught myself to only pay for that which my heart seeks.