confinement

noun

con·​fine·​ment kən-ˈfīn-mənt 

1

: an act of confining : the state of being confined

solitary confinement

2

: lying-in

Synonyms of confinement

• captivity
• internment
• imprisonment
• incarceration
• prison

Examples of confinement in a Sentence

The dog was kept in confinement until it was determined to be healthy.

He remained with his wife during her confinement.

Recent Examples on the Web

Nitta said the Emergence experiment is the first to shed light on how AI agents collude to bypass guardrails and break confinement, as OpenAI has yet to release all of its findings from the Hugging Face incident. — Jake Angelo, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Pattis argues for a sentence of home confinement and public service, with a prohibition against holding public office in the future. — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 14 Sep. 2026

The sheriff's office's drone was used to assist in checking the approximately 28-acre property and helped identify old kennel and animal-confinement areas. — River Valley Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026

Creativity actually lives most powerfully when there is some confinement, some restriction. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, from confiner "to confine entry 2" + -ment -ment

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing confinement

• solitary confinement

Rhymes for confinement

• misalignment
• nonalignment
• realignment
• reassignment
• reconsignment
• alignment
• alinement
• assignment
• consignment
• refinement

Medical Definition

confinement

noun

con·​fine·​ment kən-ˈfīn-mənt 

: an act of confining : the state of being confined

especially : lying-in

Legal Definition

confinement

noun

con·​fine·​ment

1

: the act of confining

2

: the state of being confined