confinecon‧fine /kənˈfaɪn/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb [transitive] 
The police cadet’s duties were confined to taking statements from the crowd. We confined our study to ten cases.confine yourself to (doing) something Owen did not confine himself to writing only one type of poem.2keep somebody in a place to keep someone in a place that they cannot leave, such as a prisonconfine somebody to something Any soldier who leaves his post will be confined to barracks (=made to stay in the barracks).be confined in something He was allegedly confined in a narrow dark room for two months.3stop something spreading to stop something bad from spreading to another placeconfine something to something Firefighters managed to confine the fire to the living room.4stay in one place if you are confined to a place, you have to stay in that place, especially because you are illbe confined to something Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair. She’s confined to bed with flu.GRAMMAR Confine is usually passive in this meaning.
WORD ORIGINconfine
Origin:
1500-1600 French confiner, from Latin confinis; ➔ CONFINESVERB TABLE
confine
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | confine |
| he, she, it | confines | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | confined |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have confined |
| he, she, it | has confined | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had confined |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will confine |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have confined |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am confining |
| he, she, it | is confining | |
| you, we, they | are confining | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was confining |
| you, we, they | were confining | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been confining |
| he, she, it | has been confining | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been confining |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be confining |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been confining |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- All the illegal immigrants were confined to a small island in the harbour.
- Brett was eventually confined in a psychiatric hospital, where he committed suicide.
- Rebel troops have confined their attacks mainly to the southern part of the country.
- The boy had been confined in a dark narrow room from early childhood by his parents.
- The judge has confined the jury to their hotel until after the verdict.
- The report confines itself to known and verifiable facts.
- Active volcanism at any one time is normally confined to a limited number of centres within a particular cluster.
- Both amphibians and reptiles are paralyzed by cold, and are therefore confined to the temperate zones and tropics.
- It has been confined to an interpretation of the specific regulations.
- Lord did not confine his ventures to cricket.
- Significantly, this new prosperity is not confined to the business elite or even the emerging middle class.
- The occurrence of violent confrontations on campuses and on the streets was no longer primarily confined to the summer months.
- The second assumption is also valid if we confine the analysis to a reasonable range of operations.
- While they ate, the conversation was confined to business.
Longman Language Activatorto keep someone in a place as a prisoner
to make someone stay in a place and not let them leave, especially as a prisoner: · You can't keep me here against my will - get out of my way.keep somebody in/at etc something: · The guerrillas were keeping the hostages in a camp somewhere in the jungle.· Prisoners were kept in cells with no beds and no running water.
to keep someone somewhere, especially for a short period of time, before deciding what to do with them: · Police are holding two men for questioning in connection with the robbery.· No one knows where the kidnapped woman is being held.hold somebody in/at etc something: · The prisoners were held at Andersonville until more suitable places were found.
to illegally keep someone in a place where they do not want to be, especially as a way of forcing someone to give you money or do what you want: · Police raided the building where rebels were holding 73 government employees captive.hold sb prisoner/captive/hostage in/at etc something: · Four other US citizens are being held hostage by guerrillas in Colombia.· The woman had been held prisoner in Larkin's basement for 3 months.
informal to put someone in a place, especially a prison, and lock it so that they cannot escape: lock somebody up/away: · Didn't they lock his brother away for murder?lock up/away somebody: · The governor argues that locking up criminals has reduced the crime rate.· Prisoners are locked up in their cells for twenty three hours a day.
to keep someone in a room or small place, so that they cannot go where they want to: confine somebody in something: · The boy had been confined in a dark narrow room from early childhood by his parents.confine somebody to something: · The judge is confining the jury to their hotel until after the verdict.
if the police detain someone who they think has done something illegal, they keep them somewhere, usually in order to ask them questions: · Three men from the ship have been detained for questioning by the Harbour Authorities.· The police are now allowed to detain terrorist suspects for as long as a week.
if the police hold or keep someone in custody they keep them in prison until it is time for them to be judged in a court: · McCullough will be kept in custody until her trial on May 3rd.hold/keep somebody in police custody (=in a police station): · A man has been arrested in connection with the murder and is being held in police custody.
to put a limit on something to stop a number or amount from becoming too large, or stop someone from doing whatever they want: · The new law limits the number of foreign cars that can be imported.· Men hold most of the top jobs, and this limits women's opportunities for promotion.limit somebody/something to something: · Let's limit our discussion to the facts in the report.limit yourself to something: · As you look for material to write about, don't limit yourself to other people's ideas.
to strictly control and limit the size, amount, or range of something: · The law would restrict the sale of handguns.restrict somebody/something to something: · This year's AIDS conference is restricted in size to fewer than 3,000 participants.restrict yourself to something: · McGregor has said he will voluntarily restrict himself to $2.2 million in campaign spending.
to control the size or amount of something, or to control an activity, by deciding what the limits of it will be: set/impose/put a limit on: · Governments should put strict limits on tobacco advertising.· The courts have imposed limits on school officials' power to dismiss teachers.set/impose a limit of something: · The president set a time limit of 6 months for the negotiations to produce an agreement.set/impose a limit: · Parents need to know when to set limits for their children's behavior.
if you keep to or keep within the limits of something, you make yourself stay within those limits: · We need to keep to the schedule if we're going to finish on time.· Keep within the speed limit and you should have no problems.
to keep something within the limits of a particular activity or subject, especially when it is difficult for you to do this: confine somebody/something to something: · Rebel troops have confined their attacks mainly to the southern part of the country.confine yourself to something: · The report confines itself to known and verifiable facts.
to decide on the limit of something, especially something that often changes, and make it stay the same for a long time: · Interest rates for savings accounts have been fixed at 7% for the rest of the year.· The project has finally been approved and the budget has been fixed.
to force someone to stay in a place as a prisoner to force someone to stay in a place, as if they were a prisoner: · West had abducted the young girl and kept her in his basement for 10 days.keep somebody prisoner: · Police think that the woman may have been kept prisoner for the twenty four hours before she was murdered.
if an enemy or group of criminals takes someone hostage , they keep that person as a prisoner, and threaten to kill or injure them unless they get what they want: · The government is concerned that British troops might be taken hostage by guerrillas.· A band of human rights activists stormed the embassy and took several people hostage.
to keep someone in a place and not allow them to leave - used especially in news reports: · Police are holding two men in connection with the robbery.hold somebody prisoner/hostage/captive: · Several tourists were being held captive by rebels in Kashmir.· Militant prisoners held 24 guards hostage on Friday, as jail unrest spread throughout the country.
to make someone stay in a very small place, with the result that their freedom or movements are restricted: confine somebody to something: · The judge has confined the jury to their hotel until after the verdict.· All the illegal immigrants were confined to a small island in the harbour.be confined in: · Brett was eventually confined in a psychiatric hospital, where he committed suicide.
informal to put or keep someone in a place so that they are no longer free: shut somebody up: · According to the legend, Acrisius built an underground house for his daughter. Here he shut her up and guarded her.· The lawyer claimed that his client had been shut up in a prison cell for hours, when there was no legal reason to keep him.
WORD SETSAB, nounadrenalin, nounaetiology, nounanatomy, nounantibody, nounantigen, nounbeat, verbblood, nounblood heat, nounblood pressure, nounblood type, nouncaseload, nounchemist's, nouncholesterol, nounclinical, adjectivecompress, nounconfine, verbconscious, adjectiveconsciousness, nounconstitution, nounconstitutional, adjectivecoronary, adjectivecortex, nounculture, noundeath rattle, noundiaphragm, noundisc, noundissect, verbdouble-blind, adjectiveelectrocute, verbfamily doctor, nounfluid, noungenital, adjectivegenitals, noungeriatric, adjectivegerm, noungerontology, nounginseng, noungown, noungynaecology, nounhaematology, nounhaemoglobin, nounhealth care, nounhealth centre, nounheartbeat, nounhereditary, adjectiveheredity, nounhistamine, nounimaging, nounimmune, adjectiveimmune system, nounimmunity, nouninduce, verbinsanitary, adjectiveinspire, verbinstitution, nouninstrument, nouninsulin, nouninterferon, nouninternal, adjectiveintoxicant, nounin vitro fertilization, nounlaser, nounlocal, adjectivelumbar, adjectivelymph, nounlymph node, nounmedical school, nounmenopause, nounmenses, nounmetabolism, nounmetabolize, verbneurology, nounobstetrician, nounoral, adjectiveossify, verbovarian, adjectivepathogen, nounphysiology, nounplatelet, nounpositive, adjectivepreventive medicine, nounprognosis, nounpsychobiology, nounpsychosomatic, adjectivepublic health, nounregimen, nounregion, nounregress, verbrenal, adjectiverespirator, nounscreen, nounskeleton, nountest, verbtherapeutic, adjectivetherapeutics, nountoxicology, nountreatable, adjectivetreatment, nounultrasound, noununtreated, adjectivevein, nounwhite blood cell, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair. She’s confined to bed with flu.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Lynn has been confined to a wheelchair (=has had to use a wheelchair) for the last year.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair. She’s confined to bed with flu. (=small and enclosed)· It was difficult being together in such a confined space.
Lynn has been confined to a wheelchair (=has had to use a wheelchair) for the last year.· Until now it had been thought that the problem was largely confined to Devon and Cornwall.· Polls suggest that cultural snobbery is largely confined to intellectuals.· The third type seem to be solid, and are largely confined to the lower half of the main cloud.· The single-subject academic course is largely confined to the universities, reflecting their traditions of specialized scholarship and their stronger research orientation.· These institutions were concerned mainly with gymnastics and confined largely to women until after the Second World War.· Moreover, its big-name client base so far is largely confined to Sainsbury, Gateway and the main petrol retailers.· Most trade unionists had been indifferent to any political theory beyond an instinctive syndicalism which was itself largely confined to industrial disputes.· Thus political links were largely confined to the Comintern network which, not withstanding this fact, was initially extremely weak.
· Fruit is no longer confined to heavy syrup; you can find it in light syrup or packed in its own juice.
· The era of class confrontation in Britain's coalfields had been confined mainly to the short period 1910-26.· Most firms regarded the cost as low and confined mainly to power used for pumping and to maintenance.
· On 18 January 1956 the Committee's Joint Declaration rejected the notion that integration should be confined to only six countries.· In far too many instances real hard preparatory work is confined to well trained union negotiators.· Disasters of this sort were confined to neither traditionally flooded land nor the winter months.
· Such networks are inevitably built up on a regional basis because the finds are usually confined to a limited geographical region.· In practice, detailed attention is usually confined to double correlations with briefer investigation of triple correlations.· The ventral interradial area is also covered with granules, if spinelets are present they are usually confined to the distal edge.· The epoch of blue shift is usually confined to the time when the object is still inside the event horizon.· Such problems are usually confined to ponds in which there is little or no water movement, and generally occur at night.· It was employed on marble and was usually confined to capitals, pulpits and fonts.
NOUN· Gawley confined his activities to short circuits.· In general, science policy-making institutions can not just confine their activities to provide policy directions.· He did not confine his activities to Claudine, then?
· The work will not be confined to the Glasgow area.· It is not confined to the area touched but shoots along the entire distribution of the nerve branch.· Anderson very carefully demonstrated the flight schools procedure for getting into and out of confined areas.· The company, which employs 70 staff, say work goes on as usual, the fire was confined to a storage area.· His work was not confined to this one area, however.· At the touch of a button a huge gate opens and I am confined in a small area between fences.· Commercially viable deposits of lignite were confined to the area around Lough Neagh in the early 1980s.
· The mean velocity also varies vertically, and we shall confine attention to two-dimensional flow.· The project does not intend itself to collect actual papers and confines its attentions to non-governmental records only.
· He suspected she could have wished for nothing better than to have him confined to bed and reliant on her care.· Throughout the crisis of 1931, however, he was confined to bed after an operation.· Many such programmes are unnecessarily harsh and increase isolation by confining the patient to bed.· His heart was not strong either, and by the end of the month he was confined to his bed.· Perhaps Mrs Longhill had already written during the days Ruth had been confined to bed.
· The rule is not confined to the case of adjacent freeholders.· Mr Straw will also reintroduce the mode of trial bill restricting the right to trial by jury in confined cases.· However, it seems that the principle is not confined to such cases.
· Here I propose to confine my discussion to the contemporary debate surrounding the electoral system as an electoral system.· They are confined to discussions of a very general nature and to providing the resources necessary for an efficient service.· Other forms of taxation may be introduced as well, but for the sake of simplicity we will confine our discussion to income taxation.
· This has a twin aim of befriending and loving those who are confined to their home all day every day.· Older people are prone to ill-health, which often confines them to their homes.· She suffered from arthritis and was largely confined to her home.· Women were confined to the home behind blackened windows and could not take jobs.· She suffers from arthritis in her hip which keeps her confined to her home in the town of Maesteg.· We pray for those who are confined to their homes for long periods.
· He held back at first, but only until she was confined in the hospital at Leyden.· I confined it to a hospital tank for two weeks and treated it with Aquarian Whitespot Remedy.· I fear, however, that Woodward's vocation would have been better exercised if he had confined himself to hospital portering.
· He should confine himself to the questions put to him.· Doctrinal issues were never ventilated, and the dispute was confined to questions of legal rights and political jurisdiction.· This internal dialogue will not be confined to technical questions framed within the discipline.· We have confined ourselves to the question of power.· Argument before the House of Lords in B's appeal and the judgments were confined to the certified question.
· Charles was confined to a walk-on role.
· Pauline Paul was confined to a wheelchair as calcium drained from her bones.· He was confined to a wheelchair after that, and the confinement contributed to the diminishing of his body and spirit.· She was discharged from hospital and went home, but was confined to a wheelchair, as she could not walk.· Having been confined to a wheelchair for 18 years I had been in similar situations to this.· She is confined to a wheelchair and her sight is badly impaired.· It developed into rheumatoid arthritis, but being confined to a wheelchair didn't stop Jackie marrying and bringing up three children.· In February this year, the pain grew so much that she was confined to a wheelchair.· The Londoner was paralysed and is confined to a wheelchair.
· We are not confining ourselves to small-animal work.
VERB· Criticism of the war seems to have been confined to a few individuals.· The pope seems to have confined himself to insisting on the prohibition of lay investiture.· The house longhorn beetle is another insect pest which seems to be confined to parts of Hampshire and south-west Surrey.
WORD FAMILYnounconfinementconfinesadjectiveconfinedverbconfine
1limit to keep someone or something within the limits of a particular activity or subject SYN restrictconfine something to something The police cadet’s duties were confined to taking statements from the crowd. We confined our study to ten cases.confine yourself to (doing) something Owen did not confine himself to writing only one type of poem.2keep somebody in a place to keep someone in a place that they cannot leave, such as a prisonconfine somebody to something Any soldier who leaves his post will be confined to barracks (=made to stay in the barracks).be confined in something He was allegedly confined in a narrow dark room for two months.3stop something spreading to stop something bad from spreading to another placeconfine something to something Firefighters managed to confine the fire to the living room.4stay in one place if you are confined to a place, you have to stay in that place, especially because you are illbe confined to something Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair. She’s confined to bed with flu.GRAMMAR Confine is usually passive in this meaning.