prison house
- noun
- /ˈprɪzən haʊs/
- Literature
:
cárcel
- To him, the small village was a prison house from which he longed to escape.
Examples
-
The old factory felt like a prison house to the workers.
-
She described her strict upbringing as a prison house that stifled her creativity.
-
For many, the rigid routine of the office felt like a prison house, limiting their freedom.
-
Many people described their office as a prison house.
-
After losing his job, he felt like his small apartment had become a prison house of despair.
-
The strict rules at her workplace made it feel like a prison house for anyone who wanted to be creative.
-
During the lockdown, many people described their homes as a prison house due to the lack of freedom.
Synonyms
549
5.6
A small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held
223
5.6
A place or situation that makes someone feel trapped
102
3.7
A state of being kept somewhere and not allowed to leave
88
4.0
Being kept in prison as a punishment by law
85
8.0
Being kept in prison as punishment
80
5.9
A state of being kept in a small closed space and unable to move freely
49
4.0
A legal order to stay at home instead of going to prison
43
1.5
A small room in a prison where guards keep prisoners
42
4.1
A building where police keep people who are waiting for trial or serving a sentence
40
5.5
A small room in a police station where police keep people temporarily
37
7.0
Guards keep a prisoner alone and away from other prisoners as punishment or for safety
36
6.5
A section of a prison where prisoners live
29
2.7
A small locked room in jail for holding a person
27
4.3
A prison run by a state government for people found guilty of serious crimes
26
5.3
A camp where guards keep people against their will, often during war
21
3.8
A building where police officers work and keep people they arrest
12
4.9
A part of a prison that has several cells for prisoners
10
4.2
A building like a prison where people are kept as punishment and given training
7
8.2
A place, often on an island, where the government keeps people sent there for crimes and they cannot leave
5
4.9
A small building at an entrance where guards stay and sometimes keep prisoners
5
9.9
A jail or prison where people go when they break the law
4
9.8
A part of a prison where people sentenced to die wait for their execution
2
4.4
A large room in a jail or police station where officers keep several people for a short time
2
4.9
A place where people who broke the law are kept as punishment or while they wait for trial
1
6.5
A place where young people who have broken the law stay temporarily under court supervision
1
6.3
A place like a prison where people are kept as punishment for crimes
1
6.8
A place in the countryside where people who broke the law live and work on farms
1
7.7
A place where young people who broke the law are kept by the court for a short time
1
6.0
A building that holds people as punishment for crimes to protect the public
1
6.2
A place where young people who broke the law stay temporarily under court care
A place where authorities keep young people for a short time after breaking the law
Antonyms
How Restrictive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'prison' (a place that restricts freedom) + 'house' (a building), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer a building or situation that feels like a prison. This is a regular compositional pattern (literal or straightforwardly metaphorical) and is cross‑linguistically common, making it transparent to learners.
Etymology
Prison house is also used as a picture: people call a place a prison or a locked house when it makes them feel trapped and watched. So it means 'a situation that feels confining or restrictive'.