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View synonyms for prison

prison

[ priz-uhn ]

noun

  1. a building for the confinement of persons held while awaiting trial, persons sentenced after conviction, etc.
  2. any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.


prison

/ ˈprɪzən /

noun

  1. a public building used to house convicted criminals and accused persons remanded in custody and awaiting trial See also jail penitentiary reformatory
  2. any place of confinement or seeming confinement


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Other Words From

  • prison·like adjective
  • post·prison adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of prison1

before 1150; Middle English prison, earlier prisun < Old French, variant of preson imprisonment, a prison < Latin pre ( ) nsiōn- (stem of prehēnsiō ) a seizure, arrest, equivalent to prehēns ( us ) (past participle of prehendere to seize) + -iōn- -ion; doublet of prehension

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Word History and Origins

Origin of prison1

C12: from Old French prisun, from Latin prēnsiō a capturing, from prehendere to lay hold of

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Example Sentences

Policemen on the show joke about prison riots, bomb threats, and the shooting of unarmed civilians.

When Chérif got out of prison, he worked at the fish counter of a supermarket.

There was a lot of prison fiction from movies and books to mine.

Jettison your lawyers as a source of prison-yard guidance, Abramoff said.

You get these high-profile people that go into prison, and the staff abuse their authority.

So he bore down on the solemn declaration that she stood face to face with a prison term for perjury.

The enemy then quickly took cover behind the high cliffs and I was let out of my prison.

There are no chains to my prison, no steel cuffs to gall the limbs, no guards to threaten and cow me.

It is painful to add, that the latter years of his life were passed in prison, where he was confined for debt.

In a dungeon of the corresponding tower, on this side of the castle, was the prison of Ripperda.

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prismoidprison camp