imprison Hear it!

imprison Definition

im·prison (im priz′ən)

transitive verb

  1. to put or keep in prison; jail
  2. to restrict, limit, or confine in any way

imprison Related Forms
im·pris′·on·ment noun
imprison Synonyms

imprison

v.

jail, confine, incarcerate, lock up, coop up, immure, impound, detain, keep in, hold, intern, circumscribe, shut in, bottle up, lock in, bolt in, rail in, box in, fence in, cage, send to prison, throw in jail, keep as captive, hold as hostage, enclose, keep in custody, hold captive, put behind bars, commit, remand, remit, commit to an institution, institutionalize, put away*, slap in the can*, dress in steel*, lay in lavender*, clap under hatches*, send up*, send up the river*; see also enclose 1.

Antonyms free*, liberate*, release.

imprison Usage Examples

Object

  • debtor: He discussed the powers of the creditor to arrest and imprison a debtor.
  • journalist: The imprisoned journalist has lived in Britain for 16 years and has a British wife and two British children.
  • offender: As well as imposing fines, the courts can imprison offenders.
  • suspect: Currently there are 11 suspects imprisoned under this provision.
  • activist: This support is extended to animal rights activists imprisoned for their actions on a demo or hunt sab.
  • father: Some imprisoned fathers may be able to pay but refuse to do so because of grievances.

Preposition: for

  • non-payment: It excludes anyone imprisoned for non-payment of Council Tax.
  • offense: Motorists can be imprisoned for the most serious offenses.
  • murder: She is conceived in jail where her mother is imprisoned for murder.
  • debt: An innovative pioneer he was not a good businessman and died in Nottingham Jail in 1624 having been imprisoned for debt six years earlier.

Modifying Another Word

  • wrongfully: How does that compare with someone wrongfully imprisoned for 11 years?
  • unjustly: There he freed captives unjustly imprisoned, saved sailors in stormy seas, redeemed young girls who were bound for child prostitution.
  • falsely: And I gather o­ne man ' falsely imprisoned monitors in a public car park ' ?
  • wrongly: Such challenges sometimes, tho rarely, bring relief to people who have been badly treated or wrongly imprisoned.
  • indefinitely: Children in detention are the forgotten children, often snatched ' before dawn and imprisoned indefinitely.

Preposition: in

  • dungeon: Meanwhile several captured Scots are imprisoned in the infamous dungeons of Lancaster Castle.
  • jail: He was imprisoned in seven jails and condemned to death, tho released just before the Liberation of Paris.
  • cage: Millions and millions of animals are imprisoned in cages.
  • camp: She also told me of one of the men who was imprisoned in the same camp, coming to visit.
  • castle: George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement, was imprisoned in the castle for 2 years.
imprison Quotes

Shewould imprisonthe child inherhouseby theforceof love.

—White, Patrick Victor Martindale

Take me toYou, imprison me, for I, Except You enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except You ravish me.

—Donne,John