reconfinev.
/ˌriːkənˈfʌɪn/, U.S. /ˌrikənˈfaɪn/ transitive. To confine again. Also: †to define or limit the sense of (a word) (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > an explanation, definition > define [verb (transitive)] > a word
define1532
reconfine1611
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Reconfiner, to reconfine, or banish anew.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Shrop. 3 Confessors. This County afforded none, as the word is reconfined in our Preface. But if it be a little enlarged [etc.].
a1711 T. Ken Anodynes in Wks. (1721) III. 446 My Conscience with thy Voice conspires, To reconfine my loose Desires.
1738 N. Hooke Rom. Hist. I. iii. xviii. 536 Fabius reconfines those mean fellows to the four City Tribes.
1865 S. E. Edmonds Nurse & Spy in Union Army 288 He sat upon the coffin; his feet were reconfined, to allow of which he lifted them voluntarily, and then his eyes were bandaged.
1896 Cent. Mag. Jan. 343 The course of that mighty river was changed, it will be remembered, and an attempt was made to reconfine it to its old bed.
1925 Times 8 Aug. 15/1 Of 377 persons discharged from Camp Hill, the place of preventative detention..about two-thirds had..been reconvicted or reconfined.
1964 D. Glaser Effectiveness of Prison & Parole Syst. iii. xvi. 312 The savings to the state from processing and reconfining fewer new felony cases among parolees more than made up for the cost of the extra supervision staff under the work unit system.
2000 Feminist Stud. 26 15 The maternal metaphor risks reconfining women in a stereotypical, biologically derived role.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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