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confine
8 dictionary results for: confine
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
con·fine 
[kuhn-fahyn for 1, 2, 5, 6; kon-fahyn for 3, 4] Pronunciation Key verb, -fined, -fin·ing, noun
—Related forms
[kuhn-fahyn for 1, 2, 5, 6; kon-fahyn for 3, 4] Pronunciation Key verb, -fined, -fin·ing, noun –verb (used with object)
–noun
| 1. | to enclose within bounds; limit or restrict: She confined her remarks to errors in the report. Confine your efforts to finishing the book. |
| 2. | to shut or keep in; prevent from leaving a place because of imprisonment, illness, discipline, etc.: For that offense he was confined to quarters for 30 days. |
| 3. | Usually, confines. a boundary or bound; limit; border; frontier. |
| 4. | Often, confines. region; territory. |
| 5. | Archaic. confinement. |
| 6. | Obsolete. a place of confinement; prison. |
[Origin: 1350–1400 for n.; 1515–25 for v.; (n.) ME < MF confins, confines < ML confinia, pl. of L confinis boundary, border (see con-, fine2); (v.) < MF confiner, v. deriv. of confins < L, as above]
] —Related forms
con·fin·a·ble, con·fine·a·ble, adjective
con·fine·less, adjective
con·fin·er, noun
—Synonyms 1. circumscribe.
—Antonyms 1, 2. free.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| con·fine
(kən-fīn') Pronunciation Key
v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v. tr.
v. intr. Archaic To border. n. (kŏn'fīn')
[French confiner, from Old French, from confins, boundaries, ultimately from Latin cōnfīne, from neuter of cōnfīnis, adjoining : com-, com- + fīnis, border.] con·fin'a·ble, con·fine'a·ble adj., con·fin'er n. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
confine
confine
c.1400, from L. confinium (pl. confinia) "boundary, limit," from confine, neut. of confinis "bordering on," from com- "with" + finis "an end." The noun is older in Eng.; verb sense of "keeping within limits" is from 1595. Confinement is from 1595, as a euphemism for "childbed" it dates from 1774 (the M.E. expression was Our Lady's bands).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| confine | |
verb | |
| 1. | place limits on (extent or access); "restrict the use of this parking lot"; "limit the time you can spend with your friends" [syn: restrict] |
| 2. | restrict or confine, "I limit you to two visits to the pub a day" [syn: limit] |
| 3. | prevent from leaving or from being removed |
| 4. | close in; darkness enclosed him" [syn: enclose] |
| 5. | deprive of freedom; take into confinement [ant: free] |
| 6. | to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement; "This holds the local until the express passengers change trains"; "About a dozen animals were held inside the stockade"; "The illegal immigrants were held at a detention center"; "The terrorists held the journalists for ransom" [syn: restrain] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: con·fine
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: con·fined; con·fin·ing
: to hold within a location; specifically : IMPRISON
Main Entry: con·fine
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: con·fined; con·fin·ing
: to hold within a location; specifically : IMPRISON
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Confine
Con*fine"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Confined; p. pr. & vb. n. Confining.] [F. confiner to border upon, LL. confinare to set bounds to; con- + finis boundary, end. See Final, Finish.] To restrain within limits; to restrict; to limit; to bound; to shut up; to inclose; to keep close. Now let not nature's hand Keep the wild flood confined! let order die! --Shak. He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and the slavery of rhyme. --Dryden. To be confined, to be in childbed. Syn: To bound; limit; restrain; imprison; immure; inclose; circumscribe; restrict.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Confine
Con"fine\ (? or ?); 277), v. i. To have a common boundary; to border; to lie contiguous; to touch; -- followed by on or with. [Obs.] Where your gloomy bounds Confine with heaven. --Milton. Bewixt heaven and earth and skies there stands a place. Confining on all three. --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Confine
Con"fine\, n. 1. Common boundary; border; limit; -- used chiefly in the plural. Events that came to pass within the confines of Judea. --Locke. And now in little space The confines met of empyrean heaven, And of this world. --Milton. On the confines of the city and the Temple. --Macaulay. 2. Apartment; place of restraint; prison. [Obs.] Confines, wards, and dungeons. --Shak. The extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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