con·fine

[kuhn-fahyn for 1, 2, 5, 6; kon-fahyn for 3, 4] verb, con·fined, con·fin·ing, noun
verb (used with object)
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.
noun
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.
00:10
Confining is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.

Origin:
1350–1400 for noun; 1515–25 for v.; (noun) Middle English < Middle French confins, confines < Medieval Latin confinia, plural of Latin confinis boundary, border (see con-, fine2); (v.) < Middle French confiner, verbal derivative of confins < Latin, as above

con·fin·a·ble, con·fine·a·ble, adjective
con·fine·less, adjective
con·fin·er, noun
non·con·fin·ing, adjective
pre·con·fine, verb (used with object), pre·con·fined, pre·con·fin·ing.
qua·si-con·fin·ing, adjective
re·con·fine, verb (used with object), re·con·fined, re·con·fin·ing.
self-con·fin·ing, adjective
un·con·fin·a·ble, adjective
un·con·fin·ing, adjective


1. circumscribe.


1, 2. free.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To confining
Collins
World English Dictionary
confine
 
vb
1.  to keep or close within bounds; limit; restrict
2.  to keep shut in; restrict the free movement of: arthritis confined him to bed
 
n
3.  (often plural) a limit; boundary
 
[C16: from Medieval Latin confīnāre from Latin confīnis adjacent, from fīnis end, boundary]
 
con'finable
 
adj
 
con'fineable
 
adj
 
'confineless
 
adj
 
con'finer
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

confine
c.1400, from L. confinium (pl. confinia) "boundary, limit," from confine, neut. of confinis "bordering on," from com- "with" + finis "an end" (see finish). The noun is older in Eng.; verb sense of "keeping within limits" is from 1595.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Confining units consist mainly of layers with low permeability.
Confining the initial stimulus to government investment would not have worked
  because it would have been too slow.
Side bolsters do their job without being overly confining.
Encourage our scholars to play a more active role beyond the ivy walls
  confining their narrow disciplines.
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