prison

¹pris·on

noun \ˈpri-z^ən\

Definition of PRISON

1

: a state of confinement or captivity

2

: a place of confinement especially for lawbreakers; specifically : an institution (as one under state jurisdiction) for confinement of persons convicted of serious crimes — compare jail

Examples of PRISON

1. The state plans to build two more prisons.
2. He was in prison at the time.
3. If caught, they're all going to prison.
4. She was sent to prison for robbery.
5. He was released from prison.
6. He's scheduled to get out of prison next month.
7. Her marriage became a prison to her.

Origin of PRISON

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin prehension-, prehensio act of seizing, from prehendere to seize — more at get

First Known Use: 12th century

Related to PRISON

Synonyms

bastille, big house [slang], bridewell, brig, calaboose, can, clink [slang], cooler, coop, guardroom, hock, hold, hoosegow, jailhouse, joint [slang], jug, lockup, nick [British slang], pen, penitentiary, pokey [slang], jail, quod [British slang], slam, slammer, stir [slang], stockade, tolbooth [Scottish]

Related Words

bull pen, cage, cell, hole, tank; block, ward; glasshouse [British], guardhouse, hulk(s); concentration camp, gulag, labor camp, prison camp, stalag, work camp; dungeon, keep, oubliette; reformatory, reform school, training school

Near Antonyms

outside

Rhymes with PRISON

mizzen, wizen

²prison

transitive verb

Definition of PRISON

: imprison, confine

First Known Use of PRISON

14th century

Rhymes with PRISON

mizzen, wizen

prison

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Institution for the confinement of people convicted of crimes. Prisons are administered by state, provincial, or national governments and house inmates for relatively long terms. They thus differ from jails, which usually are under local jurisidiction and house inmates serving short sentences. Until the late 18th century, prisons were used mainly for the confinement of debtors who could not meet their obligations, of accused persons waiting to be tried, and of convicts who were waiting for their sentences of death or banishment to be put into effect. Later, imprisonment itself came to be accepted as a means of punishing convicted criminals. In early U.S. prisons, prisoners were kept in isolation; in the 19th century, they were permitted to work together, but only in silence. At the end of the 19th century, prison reformers successfully advocated segregation of criminals by type of crime, age, and sex; rewards for good behaviour; indeterminate sentencing; vocational training; and parole. In the late 20th century, prison populations in many countries began to explode as arrests for violent offenses and for possession of small amounts of illegal drugs increased.