incarceration
noun
in·car·cer·a·tion
(ˌ)in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən 
plural incarcerations
: confinement in a jail or prison : the act of imprisoning someone or the state of being imprisoned
Despite the drop in crime in past decades, rates of arrest and incarceration in New York City have not gone down.—
Robin Steinberg
Robin SteinbergTo this day, the Supreme Court has not overruled its infamous Korematsu opinion of 1944, which validated our mass incarceration in deference to national security.—George Takei
George TakeiExamples of incarceration in a Sentence
he was bored and frustrated by his incarceration in the quarantine
sentenced to six months of incarceration for dealing in narcotics
Recent Examples on the Web
Tarek Bazrouk, an anti-Israel agitator who was hit with federal hate crime charges after assaulting Jewish counter-protesters, was sentenced to 17 months of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release.
—Rachel Wolf , Maria Paronich, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2025
Diving into the data, indicators such as access to grocery stores, affordable housing options, incarceration rates and homelessness all play a factor in lowering family stability.
—Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 28 Oct. 2025
Delayed due to Self Jupiter’s incarceration, the group released Temptations in 2001 and 2002’s Shockadoom EP.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 27 Oct. 2025
LagosPhoto’s debut expansion to Ibadan will foreground works engaging the city’s urban and architectural expressions of incarceration.
—Photovogue, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
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Rachel Wolf , Maria Paronich, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2025
Diving into the data, indicators such as access to grocery stores, affordable housing options, incarceration rates and homelessness all play a factor in lowering family stability.
—Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 28 Oct. 2025
Delayed due to Self Jupiter’s incarceration, the group released Temptations in 2001 and 2002’s Shockadoom EP.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 27 Oct. 2025
LagosPhoto’s debut expansion to Ibadan will foreground works engaging the city’s urban and architectural expressions of incarceration.
—Photovogue, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
Cite this Entry
“Incarceration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarceration. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
incarceration
noun
in·car·cer·a·tion
in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən
1
: a confining or state of being confined
2
: abnormal retention or confinement of a body part
specifically
: a constriction of the neck of a hernial sac so that the hernial contents become irreducible
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