imprison
verb
im·pris·on im-ˈpri-zᵊn 
imprisoned; imprisoning; imprisons
transitive verb
: to put in or as if in prison : confine
imprisonment
im-ˈpri-zᵊn-mənt
noun 
Synonyms
- commit
- confine
- immure
- incarcerate
- intern
- jail
- jug
- lock (up)
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
He was imprisoned for murder. He has threatened to imprison his political opponents.
Recent Examples on the Web Many countries will imprison a person for possessing THC products that are legal in the United States, Russian legal expert Jamison Firestone said. 
Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 4 Aug. 2022 Prosecutors had earlier asked the court to imprison her for 9 1/2 years, close to the maximum sentence of 10 years. Fortune, 4 Aug. 2022 The Magus, as his name would suggest, has become obsessed with dark magic, and hopes to imprison the Angel of Death and strike a bargain to bring his son back to life. Alex Raiman, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2022 While small parts of the two-masted wooden schooner have been brought to the surface, researchers have found that most of the ship — including the pen that was used to imprison the captives — remains intact on the river bottom. CBS News, 1 May 2022 There he is hunted by an obsessive Greek colonel, who wants to imprison him in the island’s processing center for refugees, and taken under the wing of a sympathetic local girl, Vänna. Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 Set in 1869, as Habsburg forces imprison Magyar provincials suspected of rebellious banditry, it was shot entirely on location within Hungary’s prairie-like puszta. David Mermelstein, WSJ, 17 May 2022 This lack of diversity was particularly disquieting given the long history of using cannabis offenses to imprison predominantly people of color. Olivia Goldhill, STAT, 10 Mar. 2022 Activists used Mukadam's death to renew calls for the country's Parliament to pass legislation that would fine or imprison offenders for abusing women, children or vulnerable people. Sophia Saifi, CNN, 24 Feb. 2022 See More
Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 4 Aug. 2022 Prosecutors had earlier asked the court to imprison her for 9 1/2 years, close to the maximum sentence of 10 years. Fortune, 4 Aug. 2022 The Magus, as his name would suggest, has become obsessed with dark magic, and hopes to imprison the Angel of Death and strike a bargain to bring his son back to life. Alex Raiman, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2022 While small parts of the two-masted wooden schooner have been brought to the surface, researchers have found that most of the ship — including the pen that was used to imprison the captives — remains intact on the river bottom. CBS News, 1 May 2022 There he is hunted by an obsessive Greek colonel, who wants to imprison him in the island’s processing center for refugees, and taken under the wing of a sympathetic local girl, Vänna. Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 Set in 1869, as Habsburg forces imprison Magyar provincials suspected of rebellious banditry, it was shot entirely on location within Hungary’s prairie-like puszta. David Mermelstein, WSJ, 17 May 2022 This lack of diversity was particularly disquieting given the long history of using cannabis offenses to imprison predominantly people of color. Olivia Goldhill, STAT, 10 Mar. 2022 Activists used Mukadam's death to renew calls for the country's Parliament to pass legislation that would fine or imprison offenders for abusing women, children or vulnerable people. Sophia Saifi, CNN, 24 Feb. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French emprisoner, from en- + prison prison
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
imprison
verb
im·pris·on im-ˈpri-zᵊn
imprisoned; imprisoning
: to put in prison
Legal Definition
imprison
transitive verb
im·pris·on
: to confine in prison especially as punishment for a crime compare false imprisonment
imprisoning
verb
as in jailing
to put in or as if in prison in this society, we try to imprison criminals so that they can't do any more harm Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- jailing
- incarcerating
- interning
- detaining
- confining
- arresting
- restraining
- committing
- restricting
- limiting
- capturing
- immuring
- catching
- jugging
- constraining
- apprehending
- shutting
- seizing
- gating
- barring
- locking (up)
- shackling
- impressing
- pinching
- nabbing
- keeping
- handcuffing
- impounding
- holding
- fettering
- binding
- shanghaiing
- enchaining
- busting
- trammeling
- manacling
- picking up
- trammelling
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- freeing
- liberating
- releasing
- discharging
- emancipating
- enfranchising
- unchaining
- unbinding
- unfettering
- manumitting
- uncaging