incarcerate

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verb in·car·cer·ate \ in-ˈkär-sə-ˌrāt \

Definition of incarcerate

incarcerated; incarcerating

transitive verb

1 :to put in prison

2 :to subject to confinement

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incarceration

play \(ˌ)in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən\ noun

See incarcerate defined for English-language learners

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incarcerate was our Word of the Day on 10/07/2013. Hear the podcast!

Examples of incarcerate in a Sentence

the state incarcerated over 1900 people last year

Recent Examples of incarcerate from the Web

The 85-year-old faces up to six months in jail, though attorneys who have followed the case doubt someone his age would be incarcerated. _

— Bloomberg.com, "Trump Isn't Expected to Pardon Joe Arpaio on Tuesday," 22 Aug. 2017
Those other reforms include ensuring pregnant women aren't shackled or put in solitary confinement while incarcerated, charged for phone calls or kept from their families, Refinery29 reports.

— brittney mcnamara, Teen Vogue, "Prisons May Start Giving Out Free Pads and Tampons," 15 Aug. 2017
The charge carried a maximum sentence of a year in jail, but a judge opted not to incarcerate Mr. Simpson, instead ordering him to perform community service and receive counseling.

— richard pÉrez-peÑa, New York Times, "Nevada Parole Board Unaware of O.J. Simpson’s Old Conviction," 11 Aug. 2017
Nearly half of all those in federal prison are incarcerated for drug offenses.

— malaika jabali, Essence.com, "Sen. Cory Booker Wants To Legalize Marijuana Nationwide," 2 Aug. 2017
But in America the foreign-born are only a fifth as likely to be incarcerated as the native-born.

— The Economist, "If borders were openA world of free movement would be $78 trillion richer," 13 July 2017
Fifty years ago, the Boston Strangler murdered 13 women before being caught and incarcerated.

— anne t. donahue, Cosmopolitan, "9 True Crime Podcasts That Will Haunt You All Summer Long," 10 July 2017
The changes will designate 18 major institutions where inmates with disabilities are incarcerated as ADA compliant, according to the settlement.

— elizabeth koh, miamiherald, "Florida agrees to make prisons more accessible for inmates with disabilities," 8 July 2017
According to prosecutors, the man's DNA sample was linked to the rape after he was incarcerated in Tennesse on theft charges.

— sarah brookbank, Cincinnati.com, "Former Mason resident indicted on 'cold case' rape charges dating back to 2000," 6 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'incarcerate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

A criminal sentenced to incarceration may wish his or her debt to society could be canceled, but such a wistful felon might be surprised to learn that incarcerate and cancel are related. Incarcerate comes from incarcerare, a Latin verb meaning "to imprison." That Latin root comes from carcer, Latin for prison. Etymologists think that cancel probably got its start when the spelling of carcer was modified to cancer, which means "lattice" in Latin-an early meaning of cancel in English was "to mark (a passage) for deletion with lines crossed like a lattice." Aside from its literal meaning, incarcerate can also have a figurative application meaning "to subject to confinement," as in "people who are incarcerated in their obsessions."