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

The new record puts the W7-X triple product on par with the best tokamak results for similar pulse lengths and demonstrates that optimising three-dimensional fields can yield confinement comparable to that of tokamaks. —Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Dec. 2025

Community confinement means the inmate is in either home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center (RRC, or halfway house). —Tracy Wright , Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 10 Dec. 2025

Curt Michael Taras, 53, was ordered to report Wednesday to the Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program, in White City, Oregon, 10 miles outside of Medford, where he will be held on home confinement. —Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 10 Dec. 2025

Her confinement is set to end August 2026. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 10 Dec. 2025

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