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Synonyms

prisoner

American  
[priz-uh-ner, priz-ner] / ˈprɪz ə nər, ˈprɪz nər /

noun

  1. a person who is confined in prison or kept in custody, especially as the result of legal process.

  2. prisoner of war.

  3. a person or thing that is deprived of liberty or kept in restraint.

prisoner British  
/ ˈprɪzənə /

noun

  1. a person deprived of liberty and kept in prison or some other form of custody as a punishment for a crime, while awaiting trial, or for some other reason

  2. a person confined by any of various restraints

    we are all prisoners of time

  3. informal to be uncompromising and resolute in one's actions

  4. to capture and hold someone as a prisoner, esp as a prisoner of war

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of prisoner

1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French. See prison, -er 2

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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.