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
Although this situation has been the hardest and darkest time in my life, good things have come out of my incarceration.
—Lauren Del Valle, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
Over the 1990s, Washington seized on that opacity to transform the base into a theater of extraterritorial mass incarceration to hold tens of thousands of Haitian and Cuban asylum-seekers fleeing political violence and economic collapse in their home countries.
—Miriam Pensack, The Dial, 30 Sep. 2025
Examining issues tied to mass incarceration, says Holt, often turns up compelling stories.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025
Formed in 2011 to disrupt the cycle of incarceration, her office has seven people on staff.
—Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
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Lauren Del Valle, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
Over the 1990s, Washington seized on that opacity to transform the base into a theater of extraterritorial mass incarceration to hold tens of thousands of Haitian and Cuban asylum-seekers fleeing political violence and economic collapse in their home countries.
—Miriam Pensack, The Dial, 30 Sep. 2025
Examining issues tied to mass incarceration, says Holt, often turns up compelling stories.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025
Formed in 2011 to disrupt the cycle of incarceration, her office has seven people on staff.
—Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer, 26 Sep. 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 6 Oct. 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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