containment
noun
con·tain·ment
kən-ˈtān-mənt 
1
: the act, process, or means of keeping something within limits
the containment of health costs
2
: the policy, process, or result of preventing the expansion of a hostile power or ideology
Examples of containment in a Sentence
The company's hazardous waste containment plan is being reviewed.
The government needs to adopt a containment strategy.
Recent Examples on the Web
The rapid influx of new resources and officials in a region raised deep suspicion in the local population, and that suspicion itself remains an obstacle to treatment and containment of the disease.
—
Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026
Florida's years-long effort to eradicate Burmese pythons and the Great Lakes region's ongoing struggle with zebra and quagga mussels illustrate what happens when early intervention fails, including high costs and potentially endless containment measures.
—Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
What does work is a containment pattern that treats every agent action as an external call requiring authorization at the action level, not the session level.
—Shreyans Mehta, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
Health teams are racing to find thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus while also grappling with myriad challenges that make containment difficult.
—Jennifer Rigby, USA Today, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for containment
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026
Florida's years-long effort to eradicate Burmese pythons and the Great Lakes region's ongoing struggle with zebra and quagga mussels illustrate what happens when early intervention fails, including high costs and potentially endless containment measures.
—Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
What does work is a containment pattern that treats every agent action as an external call requiring authorization at the action level, not the session level.
—Shreyans Mehta, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
Health teams are racing to find thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus while also grappling with myriad challenges that make containment difficult.
—Jennifer Rigby, USA Today, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for containment
Cite this Entry
“Containment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/containment. Accessed 2 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
