imprison
1 of 1verb/ɪmˈprɪzən/
Forms:imprisons,imprisoning,imprisoned,imprisoned
1
to put someone in prison or keep them somewhere and not let them go
C1transitive- The court decided to imprison the convicted felon for a term of ten years.
- Law enforcement authorities may imprison individuals found guilty of serious crimes.
- The decision to imprison the suspect without bail was made due to the flight risk.
- Last year, the judge successfully imprisoned the embezzler for financial fraud.
- By the end of the day, the court will have hopefully imprisoned all suspects involved in the case.
2
to restrict, limit, or confine someone or something
transitive- He was imprisoned in a small room without windows for hours.
- The storm imprisoned the hikers in the remote cabin for several days.
- They imprisoned the animals in cages for their safety during the storm.
- The new security measures could imprison the workers in the building during lockdown.
- The strict curfew was designed to imprison the citizens within their homes at night.