imprison
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- imprisonable adjective
- imprisoner noun
- imprisonment noun
- reimprison verb (used with object)
- reimprisonment noun
- unimprisonable adjective
- unimprisoned adjective
Etymology
Origin of imprison
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English enprisonen, from Old French enprisoner, equivalent to en- en- 1 + prison prison + -er infinitive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The key action here involved saving your grandmother from being effectively imprisoned in her own home, which is sadly no longer an option now that she has died.
From MarketWatch
She’s taken, perversely, with John the Baptist, imprisoned in a cistern and prophesying doom for the decadent, Godless heathens, Salome in particular.
From Los Angeles Times
Foreman said that on Wednesday for the first time in months she had met with her husband Craig, who is also imprisoned in Iran.
From BBC
“The strike was carried out in a precise manner to mitigate harm to civilians imprisoned within the prison to the greatest extent possible,” the IDF said in a statement.
And the core of that story, a man falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and eventually driving him insane, is unfortunately pretty evergreen.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
