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to incarcerate

to incarcerate

18 8.4
To put someone in prison and keep them there
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈkɑːrsəˌreɪt/
  • Formal
translation icon : encarcelar
  • The judge decided to incarcerate the defendant for his repeated offenses against the law.
  • Incarcerated youth
  • Incarcerated juveniles
  • Incarcerated offender

You know, when I was incarcerated the last time.

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Examples

  • Can't incarcerate someone without charging them with a crime.

  • Society can be protected by incarcerating dangerous individuals and through the deterrent effect of threatened punishment.

    Academic text (2006)
  • I suggest we incarcerate him.

  • Please, pull over and wait for the police to incarcerate your passenger.

  • And so he was locked up and incarcerated for a period of time.

  • We incarcerate them.

  • Currently, Russia incarcerates almost one million convicts at any given moment.

    Academic text (2002)
  • You can't incarcerate me!

  • Notably, some states and counties that provide attorneys still have judges who routinely incarcerate noncustodial parents for failure to provide child support.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Many believe that society should focus on rehabilitation rather than simply incarcerating individuals.

Synonyms

to imprison
vsto incarcerate
  • Formal
178 4.2

Put someone in prison as a punishment or keep them locked up

does the same but without stressing punishment or force
to detain
vsto incarcerate
  • Formal
169 5.9

To keep someone with the police for questioning

is confinement in a prison or nonescapable place not a brief holding for questioning
to put away
vsto incarcerate
115 5.8

To lock someone in prison or a secure place

focuses on prison confinement specifically rather than any secure institution
to jail
vsto incarcerate
108 2.1

To put someone in prison as punishment

is formal legal confinement rather than merely prisonlike confinement
to institutionalize
vsto incarcerate
  • US
27 7.2

Send someone to live for a long time in a hospital, prison, or care home

is about confinement specifically in prison rather than any institution
to put behind bars
vsto incarcerate
26 4.3

Send a person to prison as punishment

is the formal legal term for confining someone in prison
to remand
vsto incarcerate
  • Jargon
25 8.5

To put someone back in custody until their next hearing

is long term imprisonment rather than short custody awaiting legal processes
to immure
vsto incarcerate
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To lock someone inside a room or building against their will

is broader legal confinement rather than physical walling or literal enclosure
to gaol
vsto incarcerate
  • Archaic
9.9

To put someone in prison as punishment

focuses on physical confinement in a prison or nonescapable place
to jug
vsto incarcerate
  • Archaic
9.9

To put someone in jail

is the formal legal term for confining someone in prison
to lag
vsto incarcerate
  • Archaic
9.9

To put someone in jail

is the general modern legal idea of keeping someone confined in prison

Antonyms

104 4.3

Set someone free from prison or unfair control

How Confined

life imprisonment
  • Formal
15 4.7
to incarcerate
  • Formal
18 8.4
to lock up
300 4.0
to detain
  • Formal
169 5.9
to arrest
3.4

Surface Forms

incarcerate infinitive
incarcerated past participle
incarcerating present participle
incarcerates third person singular

Morphology

incarcerate = in + carcer + ate

Although 'in-' and '-ate' are recognizable affixes, the root 'carcer' is a Latin combining form not a standalone English word, so learners cannot reliably derive 'to put in prison' from the visible parts.

Etymology

Incarcerate comes from the Latin parts in- 'in' and carcer 'prison'. So it literally means 'put into prison', which is why to incarcerate someone is to put or keep them in jail.