Skip to main content
to imprison

to imprison

178 4.2
Put someone in prison as a punishment or keep them locked up
  • verb
  • /ɪmˈprɪzən/
  • Formal
translation icon : encarcelar
  • Even now, my voice is reaching millions throughout the world... millions of despairing men, women and little children... victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
  • arrested and imprisoned
  • imprisoned inmates
  • imprisoned women

They start imprisoning people for asking basic questions.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Most were starved to death, murdered in cold blood, or imprisoned without shelter.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The majority of the women were imprisoned for terms of less than three months.

    Academic text (1993)
  • What was he imprisoned for?

  • The project leader was blamed for the incident and imprisoned.

  • And soon after, he was imprisoned for assaulting his boss at work.

  • In the past, Bao would likely have been imprisoned without a chance to leave the country.

    Academic text (1999)
  • A number of political prisoners, imprisoned as part of the KCK trial, were released during the process.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Then, one day, you wake up and find you've been imprisoned for your beliefs.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Falsely accused of stealing as a young man, he was imprisoned but escaped through his own ingenuity.

    Academic text (1990)
  • He was imprisoned for stealing a car and received a five-year sentence.

Synonyms

to lock up
vsto imprison
300 4.0

Put someone or something in a place where they cannot leave, for example a jail

is specifically about punishment or force rather than protective safety
to put away
vsto imprison
115 5.8

To lock someone in prison or a secure place

is the basic idea of forced confinement rather than emphasis on placement
to jail
vsto imprison
108 2.1

To put someone in prison as punishment

is a broader term for punishment confinement beyond just this facility
to put behind bars
vsto imprison
26 4.3

Send a person to prison as punishment

is about general forced confinement rather than the sending action
to incarcerate
vsto imprison
  • Formal
18 8.4

To put someone in prison and keep them there

is the general word for forced confinement as punishment
to lock him up and throw away the key
vsto imprison
  • Informal
2 9.5

Put someone in prison and never let them out

is similar but does not imply permanent or never ending detention
to immure
vsto imprison
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To lock someone inside a room or building against their will

is broader, focusing on legal punishment rather than physical enclosure
to gaol
vsto imprison
  • Archaic
9.9

To put someone in prison as punishment

is the everyday concept of punishment confinement without naming the institution
to jug
vsto imprison
  • Archaic
9.9

To put someone in jail

is the standard notion of forced confinement without slang register
to lag
vsto imprison
  • Archaic
9.9

To put someone in jail

is the common legal term for punishment confinement rather than archaic slang

Antonyms

279 1.8

An act of letting someone or something go free from being held

104 4.3

Set someone free from prison or unfair control

How Confined

to incarcerate
  • Formal
18 8.4
to imprison
  • Formal
178 4.2
to lock up
300 4.0
to confine
215 4.2
to detain
  • Formal
169 5.9

Surface Forms

imprison infinitive
imprisoned past
imprisoned past participle
imprisoning present participle
imprisons third person singular

Morphology

imprison = prison (transparent) = im + prison

Meaning is clearly formed by the prefix 'im-' (in/into) added to 'prison', indicating putting someone into prison.

Etymology

Imprison comes from the parts im- meaning 'in' and prison meaning 'a place to hold people'. So to imprison someone is to put them 'in' a prison or keep them locked up.