confine
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to enclose within bounds; limit or restrict.
She confined her remarks to errors in the report. Confine your efforts to finishing the book.
- Synonyms:
- circumscribe
- Antonyms:
- free
-
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.
- Antonyms:
- free
noun
-
Usually confines. a boundary or bound; limit; border; frontier.
-
Often confines. region; territory.
-
Archaic. confinement.
-
Obsolete. a place of confinement; prison.
verb
-
to keep or close within bounds; limit; restrict
-
to keep shut in; restrict the free movement of
arthritis confined him to bed
noun
Other Word Forms
- confinable adjective
- confineable adjective
- confineless adjective
- confiner noun
- nonconfining adjective
- preconfine verb (used with object)
- quasi-confining adjective
- reconfine verb (used with object)
- self-confining adjective
- unconfinable adjective
- unconfining adjective
Etymology
Origin of confine
1350–1400 for noun; 1515–25 for v.; (noun) Middle English < Middle French confins, confines < Medieval Latin confinia, plural of Latin confinis boundary, border ( con-, fine 2 ); (v.) < Middle French confiner, verbal derivative of confins < Latin, as above
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their results, published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, reveal that chemical changes linked to Alzheimer's are not confined to amyloid plaques.
From Science Daily
Low pressure systems bringing wet and windy weather should be confined to north-western parts of the UK, so for many it will be mostly dry and bright.
From BBC
For investors, the focus will likely be on whether the conflict remains confined to military targets or spreads to energy infrastructure.
From Barron's
The sense of uncertainty is not confined to Iran.
From BBC
He invited the court to "realise the defendant is likely to spend much of the rest of his life contained and confined".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
