Prison definition
A state of imprisonment or captivity.
Years spent in prison.
noun
A place where persons are confined.
noun
A place for the confinement and punishment of persons convicted of crimes, especially felonies.
noun
A place or condition of confinement or restriction.
Felt his job had been a prison.
noun
The definition of a prison is a building comprised of different cells or locked rooms designed to house prisoners who are sentenced to a correctional institution for breaking laws.
Alcatraz, an island in San Francisco Bay where convicted murderers and criminals were kept in cells, was an example of a prison.
noun
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To confine in or as if in a prison; imprison.
verb
The state or condition of being confined, restricted, or limited in any way.
In the prison of his own desires.
noun
A building, usually with cells, where convicted criminals, esp. those serving longer sentences, are confined.
noun
Such a place for holding accused persons who are awaiting, or on, trial.
noun
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A place of long-term confinement for those convicted of serious crimes, or otherwise considered undesirable by the government.
The cold stone walls of the prison had stood for over a century.
noun
(uncountable) Confinement in prison.
Prison was a harrowing experience for him.
noun
(colloquial) Any restrictive environment, such as a harsh academy or home.
The academy was a prison for many of its students because of its strict teachers.
noun
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Origin of prison
- Middle English from Old French alteration (influenced by Old French pris taken) of Latin prēnsiō prēnsiōn- a seizing from prehēnsiō from prehēnsus past participle of prehendere to seize ghend- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Old French prison, from Latin prehensiōnem, accusative singular of prehensiō, from the verb prehendō.
From Wiktionary