imprison

verb

im·​pris·​on im-ˈpri-zᵊn How to pronounce imprison (audio)
imprisoned; imprisoning; imprisons

transitive verb

: to put in or as if in prison : confine
imprisonment noun

Examples of imprison in a Sentence

He was imprisoned for murder. He has threatened to imprison his political opponents.
Recent Examples on the Web As a high school student in the late 1960s, Hans was imprisoned for 15 months in his native East Germany for protesting the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Steven Levy, WIRED, 20 Mar. 2024 These cases sometimes resulted in Hertz customers being arrested and even imprisoned. Chris Isidore, CNN, 18 Mar. 2024 Hamas is still suspected of holding about 100 people captive, as well as the remains of 30 others, after most of the rest were freed during a temporary cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Landon Mion, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2024 But that doesn’t mean that the bartender doesn’t get summarily turned into a tiger and imprisoned in a zoo for the rest of her life. Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2024 The political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been imprisoned since the start of the war in Ukraine. Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 13 Mar. 2024 Last month, after being imprisoned for over two years without formal charges, the 17 Colombians were among dozens of individuals in Haiti indicted by an investigative judge in the assassination plot. Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024 Guy Philippe, who helped oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 and was later convicted and imprisoned in the U.S. for money laundering, is back in Haiti and issuing very official-looking position papers. Amy Wilentz, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2024 Many of her neighbors, rafted together by war and dictatorship, and imprisoned for the sins of their husbands and fathers, have nowhere to return to. Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'imprison.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French emprisoner, from en- + prison prison

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of imprison was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near imprison

Cite this Entry

“Imprison.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imprison. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

imprison

verb
im·​pris·​on im-ˈpriz-ᵊn How to pronounce imprison (audio)
imprisoned; imprisoning
-ˈpriz-(ə-)niŋ
: to put in or as if in prison
imprisonment noun

Legal Definition

imprison

transitive verb
im·​pris·​on
: to confine in prison especially as punishment for a crime compare false imprisonment
imprisonment noun

More from Merriam-Webster on imprison

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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