imprison

verb

im·​pris·​on im-ˈpri-zᵊn 

imprisoned; imprisoning; imprisons

transitive verb

: to put in or as if in prison : confine

imprisonment

im-ˈpri-zᵊn-mənt 

noun

Synonyms of imprison

• jail
• incarcerate

Examples of imprison in a Sentence

He was imprisoned for murder.

He has threatened to imprison his political opponents.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Lieser family of Jewish industrialists was persecuted by the Nazis, including being imprisoned, and lost almost all their possessions to Nazi seizure. —Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 5 June 2026

Four ex-Presidents are currently imprisoned. —Daniel Alarcón, New Yorker, 4 June 2026

Adam’s been shuttled off to Earth along with the coveted Sword of Power in the aftermath of evil Skeletor (Jared Leto, having a great time in the part) and his horrid denizens taking over his home planet and imprisoning his parents. —Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 June 2026

Yet there is no way to hold a software agent legally liable for its actions; our justice system has no way to imprison it or exact fines on it. —Ted Chiang, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French emprisoner, from en- + prison prison

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for imprison

• arisen
• kisan
• mizzen
• nisan
• prison
• risen

Kids Definition

imprison

verb

im·​pris·​on im-ˈpriz-ᵊn 

imprisoned; imprisoning

-ˈpriz-(ə-)niŋ

: to put in or as if in prison

imprisonment

-ˈpriz-ən-mənt 

noun

Legal Definition

imprison

transitive verb

im·​pris·​on

: to confine in prison especially as punishment for a crime compare false imprisonment

imprisonment noun