1
: a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody
especially
: one on trial or in prison
2
: someone restrained as if in prison
a prisoner of her own conscience
see also:
Examples of prisoner in a Sentence
He was captured by rebel forces and kept as their prisoner for several months before they set him free.
The families were held prisoner for four days.
Recent Examples on the Web
Jackson also secures the release of 48 Cuban and Cuban American prisoners in Cuba and brings them back to the United States — most of the Americans released had been jailed on drug-trafficking charges.
—
Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
The case was dismissed in December 2023 after then-President Joe Biden pardoned Saab as part of a prisoner exchange with the Venezuelan government.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 17 Feb. 2026
The court and an associated prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, following allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians.
—ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
The court and an associated prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, after allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians.
—Zana Cimili, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prisoner
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Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
The case was dismissed in December 2023 after then-President Joe Biden pardoned Saab as part of a prisoner exchange with the Venezuelan government.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 17 Feb. 2026
The court and an associated prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, following allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians.
—ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
The court and an associated prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, after allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians.
—Zana Cimili, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prisoner
Cite this Entry
“Prisoner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prisoner. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
prisoner
noun
pris·on·er
ˈpriz-nər 
-ᵊn-ər
: a person who has been captured or locked up
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