prisoner

noun

pris·​on·​er ˈpriz-nər 

ˈpri-zᵊn-ər

1

: a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody

especially : one on trial or in prison

2

: someone restrained as if in prison

a prisoner of her own conscience

see also:

take-no-prisoners take no prisoners

Synonyms of prisoner

• captive
• capture

Examples of prisoner in a Sentence

He was captured by rebel forces and kept as their prisoner for several months before they set him free.

The families were held prisoner for four days.

Recent Examples on the Web

Man’s Search for Meaning chronicles Frankl’s experience as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026

Cohen escaped to the United States in 1994; Sarraff was arrested in 1995 and spent nearly 20 years in a Cuban prison before being freed in a 2014 prisoner swap. — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2026

Hubbard, 74, was imprisoned on what the State Department called false charges of fighting for Ukraine; fellow prisoners said he was tortured for being American. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 26 Oct. 2026

Participants fell into their roles a little too well and, after a prisoner rebellion, increasingly cruel forms of punishment from the guards and a number of students suffering mental breakdowns, the experiment was ended on the sixth day. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing prisoner

• co-prisoner
• political prisoner
• prisoner of conscience
• prisoner of war
• prisoner's base
• take (someone) prisoner

Kids Definition

prisoner

noun

pris·​on·​er ˈpriz-nər 

-ᵊn-ər

: a person who has been captured or locked up

Legal Definition

prisoner

noun

pris·​on·​er

: a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody

especially : one under arrest, awaiting trial, on trial, or serving a prison sentence