Imprison Meaning
/ɪmˈpɹɪzən/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo put in or as if in prison; confine somebody against their will.
Sentence Examples
Tyrannical governments frequently imprison their political opponents.
Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a long trial, the court decided to ____ the guilty man for ten years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government sought to ____ the political dissident for his outspoken views against the regime.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English imprisonen, emprisounen, emprisonen, from Old French emprisonner. Equivalent to im- + prison.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"One of the village's most notable sons was Thomas Grantham, a Baptist church leader born in 1634, who was persecuted and imprisoned in the struggle for nonconformist beliefs during the reign of Charles II."
— 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 214, about Halton Holegate:
"None of these people has ever had what they really wanted, and if they get a glimmer of it, they back off suspiciously, failures of imagination helping to imprison them further."
— 1985 December 21, Mara Math, “Fen (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 23, page 15:
"[...] demand for the boots fell sharply after the Battle of Waterloo, and Brunel was imprisoned for debt in 1821."
— 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 87:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a long trial, the court decided to ____ the guilty man for ten years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government sought to ____ the political dissident for his outspoken views against the regime.