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)

Examples of imprison in a Sentence

He was imprisoned for murder.

He has threatened to imprison his political opponents.

Recent Examples on the Web

The gang started as an organizing structure for men imprisoned during a period of mass incarceration that began under former President Hugo Chavez, Hanson told USA TODAY. —Will Carless, USA Today, 28 Mar. 2025

None of the people imprisoned at the facility survived the blaze, Military.com reported. —Kerry Breen, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2025

Several of them, including Hegseth, owe their careers to calling for Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned because she too mixed private messages and government business. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2025

So lots of the women that were imprisoned were not Italian, were not fluent in Italian, and had no idea what anyone was telling them. —Tonya Mosley, NPR, 26 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French emprisoner, from en- + prison prison

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for imprison

• arisen
• kisan
• mizzen
• nisan
• prison
• risen

Kids Definition

imprison

verb

im·​pris·​on im-ˈpriz-ᵊn 

imprisoned; imprisoning

-ˈpriz-(ə-)niŋ

: to put in or as if in prison

imprisonment

-ˈpriz-ən-mənt 

noun

Legal Definition

imprison

transitive verb

im·​pris·​on

: to confine in prison especially as punishment for a crime compare false imprisonment

imprisonment noun