imprison


Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

im·pris·on

 (ĭm-prĭz′ən)
tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons
To put in or as if in prison; confine.

[Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en-, in (from Latin in-; see in-2) + prison, prison; see prison.]

im·pris′on·a·ble adj.
im·pris′on·ment n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

imprison

(ɪmˈprɪzən)
vb
(tr) to confine in or as if in prison
imˈprisoner n
imˈprisonment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

im•pris•on

(ɪmˈprɪz ən)

v.t.
to confine in or as if in a prison.
[1250–1300; Middle English enprisonen < Old French enprisoner=en- en-1 + -prisoner, v. derivative of prison prison]
im•pris′on•ment, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

imprison


Past participle: imprisoned
Gerund: imprisoning

Imperative
imprison
imprison
Present
I imprison
you imprison
he/she/it imprisons
we imprison
you imprison
they imprison
Preterite
I imprisoned
you imprisoned
he/she/it imprisoned
we imprisoned
you imprisoned
they imprisoned
Present Continuous
I am imprisoning
you are imprisoning
he/she/it is imprisoning
we are imprisoning
you are imprisoning
they are imprisoning
Present Perfect
I have imprisoned
you have imprisoned
he/she/it has imprisoned
we have imprisoned
you have imprisoned
they have imprisoned
Past Continuous
I was imprisoning
you were imprisoning
he/she/it was imprisoning
we were imprisoning
you were imprisoning
they were imprisoning
Past Perfect
I had imprisoned
you had imprisoned
he/she/it had imprisoned
we had imprisoned
you had imprisoned
they had imprisoned
Future
I will imprison
you will imprison
he/she/it will imprison
we will imprison
you will imprison
they will imprison
Future Perfect
I will have imprisoned
you will have imprisoned
he/she/it will have imprisoned
we will have imprisoned
you will have imprisoned
they will have imprisoned
Future Continuous
I will be imprisoning
you will be imprisoning
he/she/it will be imprisoning
we will be imprisoning
you will be imprisoning
they will be imprisoning
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been imprisoning
you have been imprisoning
he/she/it has been imprisoning
we have been imprisoning
you have been imprisoning
they have been imprisoning
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been imprisoning
you will have been imprisoning
he/she/it will have been imprisoning
we will have been imprisoning
you will have been imprisoning
they will have been imprisoning
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been imprisoning
you had been imprisoning
he/she/it had been imprisoning
we had been imprisoning
you had been imprisoning
they had been imprisoning
Conditional
I would imprison
you would imprison
he/she/it would imprison
we would imprison
you would imprison
they would imprison
Past Conditional
I would have imprisoned
you would have imprisoned
he/she/it would have imprisoned
we would have imprisoned
you would have imprisoned
they would have imprisoned
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.imprison - lock up or confine, in or as in a jail; "The suspects were imprisoned without trial"; "the murderer was incarcerated for the rest of his life"
law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"
detain, confine - deprive of freedom; take into confinement
2.imprison - confine as if in a prison; "His daughters are virtually imprisoned in their own house; he does not let them go out without a chaperone"
detain, confine - deprive of freedom; take into confinement
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

imprison

verb jail, confine, detain, lock up, constrain, put away, intern, incarcerate, send down (informal), send to prison, impound, put under lock and key, immure He was imprisoned for 18 months on charges of anti-state agitation.
free, release, discharge, liberate, emancipate
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

imprison

verb
1. To put in jail:
2. To enclose so as to hinder or prohibit escape:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يَسْجِن
uvěznit
fængsle
fangelsa
ieslodzīt cietumā
zapreti
hapsetmek

imprison

[ɪmˈprɪzn] VT [+ criminal] (= put in jail) → encarcelar, meter en la cárcel
he was imprisoned for debt/for ten yearslo encarcelaron or lo metieron en la cárcel por deudas/durante diez años
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

imprison

[ɪmˈprɪzən] vtemprisonner
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

imprison

vt (lit)inhaftieren, einsperren (inf); (fig)gefangen halten; to be imprisoned (lit, fig)gefangen sein; to keep somebody imprisonedjdn gefangen halten
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

imprison

[ɪmˈprɪzn] vtincarcerare
after being imprisoned for three weeks → dopo tre settimane di or in carcere
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

imprison

(imˈprizn) verb
to put in prison; to take or keep prisoner. He was imprisoned for twenty years for his crimes.
imˈprisonment noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
In one the University of Oxford was ordered to imprison him; in others Wyclif was ordered to appear before the Pope; in still another the English bishops were ordered to arrest him and try him themselves.
While these measures were taking in behalf of Cedric and his companions, the armed men by whom the latter had been seized, hurried their captives along towards the place of security, where they intended to imprison them.
Some time after, the Shepherd, being imprisoned on a false accusation, was condemned "to be cast to the Lions" as the punishment for his imputed crime.
He found that he was imprisoned in a subterranean chamber amply large enough to have accommodated a dozen or more of the huge animals such as the one that had dragged him thither.
Why has Brigham Young, our chief, been imprisoned, in contempt of all justice?
I repeat it -- I arrested, you will be imprisoned -- I imprisoned, you will be exiled."
I suppose he went under the barrel, perhaps in pursuit of a mouse, and somehow knocked it off the block and so imprisoned himself."
When we were somewhat recovered from the overpowering Effusions of our grief, Edward desired that we would consider what was the most prudent step to be taken in our unhappy situation while he repaired to his imprisoned freind to lament over his misfortunes.
"There are no bells in the Bastile," he said, "and it is in the Bastile I am imprisoned. In what way can I have been made a prisoner?
In those days a man imprisoned for debt was not infrequently a man imprisoned for life.
That was evident, but perhaps that would not have been the case in a supposedly rigidly parabolical trajectory-- a new problem which tormented Barbicane's brain, imprisoned as he was in a circle of unknowns which he could not unravel.
Mr Pope, however, very luckily found them in the said play, and, laying violent hands on his own property, transferred it back again into his own works; and, for a further punishment, imprisoned the said Moore in the loathsome dungeon of the Dunciad, where his unhappy memory now remains, and eternally will remain, as a proper punishment for such his unjust dealings in the poetical trade.