SINCE 1828
quarantine
noun
quar·an·tine
| \ ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn
, ˈkwär-\
, ˈkwär-\
Definition of quarantine
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a period of 40 days
2a
: a term during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is held in isolation from the shore
b
: a regulation placing a ship in quarantine
c
: a place where a ship is detained during quarantine
3a
: a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests
b
: a place in which those under quarantine are kept
4
: a state of enforced isolation
quarantine
verb
quarantined;
quarantining
Definition of quarantine (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to detain in or exclude by quarantine
2
: to isolate from normal relations or communication
quarantine an aggressor
: to establish or declare a quarantine
Examples of quarantine in a Sentence
Noun
The infected people were put into quarantine. The cows will be kept in quarantine for another week. The dog was put under quarantine.Verb
The hospital quarantined the infected patients. The dog was immediately quarantined.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Schools shut down, and the city government — the officials who were still standing, that is — put the town under quarantine. — Verge Staff, The Verge, "Seven scary stories to tell by the light of your screen," 31 Oct. 2018 Gone was the six-month quarantine for any dog entering the U.K.; instead, animals could arrive 21 days after a rabies vaccination. — Mirren Gidda, Newsweek, "The Latest Illegal Business in the U.K. Is Dog Smuggling," 16 Jan. 2018 Young and his attorney spoke to the Guilford Board of Selectmen Monday morning to ask First Selectman Matthew Hoey to overturn the quarantine and kill order, in effect since the bite in August. — Shawn R. Beals, courant.com, "After Nearly A Year In Town Custody — And A Kill Order — Guilford Family's Dog At Center Of Potential Federal Lawsuit," 2 July 2018 Unfortunately, ornamental onions are subject to the same diseases as edible ones, and so are included in the quarantine. — Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, "Check on the health of your rose bushes and climbers | Idaho Statesman," 4 Apr. 2018 The quarantine is aimed at limiting the scale's spread in wetlands as well as agricultural areas, where it is feared the insect may infest sugar cane, sorghum and rice crops. — Tristan Baurick, NOLA.com, "Congress pours money into fight against Louisiana's wetland pest," 29 Mar. 2018 But, with the disease untreated, the quarantine inevitably broke. — Max Fisher, Amanda Taub And Dalia MartÍnez, New York Times, "Losing Faith in the State, Some Mexican Towns Quietly Break Away," 7 Jan. 2018 The cub is now in quarantine in a big cat wildlife park east of Paris and will later join the two cubs recovered by 30 Million Friends in October. — John Leicester, The Seattle Times, "Causing an uproar: Lion-car combo the latest in selfie bling," 14 Nov. 2018 To try to contain lanternflies, regulators have set up a quarantine zone in Pennsylvania that now spans over 3,000 square miles (up from 174 in 2016) and includes 13 counties, as well as Philadelphia. — Zach Montague, New York Times, "Lanternflies Eat Everything in Sight. The U.S. Is Looking Delicious.," 21 May 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The snakes were quarantined in Moscow because the passenger lacked proper documents, including from veterinarians, to bring the snakes from Düsseldorf to Russia. — Frank Miles, Fox News, "Snakes on a plane: Passenger flew from Germany to Russia with 20 snakes in his bag," 12 Sep. 2018 On ground for 40 min and now told someone on board is sick & we are being towed to other gate and quarantined until all checked out. — Michael Bartiromo, Fox News, "American Airlines flight carrying Mike Huckabee detained at Nashville airport due to ill passenger," 16 Aug. 2018 An American Airlines spokeswoman says the plane wasn't quarantined. — Fox News, "Passengers on 2 flights from Europe arrive sick in Philly," 6 Sep. 2018 All of the boys, the last of whom were pulled out by an international team of divers Tuesday after being trapped since June 23, have been quarantined while they are tested for infections. — Caroline Simon, USA TODAY, "The Thai soccer team is out of the cave. But the road to recovery is just beginning.," 10 July 2018 They have been quarantined and assigned their own nurse. — Anna Werner, CBS News, "New video of Thai cave rescue shows just how close divers came to disaster," 11 July 2018 Many residents in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone saw how those suspected of Ebola infections were whisked away by masked foreigners or quarantined in hospitals where some died and how families were torn apart. — Jacqueline Howard, CNN, "Detective work, cultural awareness are key to fighting Ebola," 5 June 2018 China has quarantined infected farms and surrounding areas and killed animals that are infected or that might be. — Lucy Craymer, WSJ, "Globe Trotter: Deadly African Swine Fever Spreads in China," 23 Aug. 2018 This is apparently what happened on an Emirates airline flight from Dubai to New York’s JFK Airport, which had to be quarantined upon arrival for part of Wednesday morning. — Julia Belluz, Vox, "Emirates flight from Dubai to JFK: what we know about the sick passengers," 6 Sep. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'quarantine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for quarantine
quarantine
noun
English Language Learners Definition of quarantine
(Entry 1 of 2)
: the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading
: the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading
quarantine
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of quarantine (Entry 2 of 2)
: to keep (a person or animal) away from others to prevent a disease from spreading : to put or keep (a person or animal) in quarantine
See the full definition for quarantine in the English Language Learners Dictionary
quarantine
noun
quar·an·tine
| \ ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn
\
\
Kids Definition of quarantine
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: isolation of people, animals, or things (as plants) out of a certain area to prevent the spread of disease or pests
2
: a period during which a person or animal with a contagious disease is isolated
3
: a place (as a hospital) where a person or animal with a contagious disease is isolated
quarantine
verb
quarantined;
quarantining
Kids Definition of quarantine (Entry 2 of 2)
: to put or hold in isolation to prevent the spread of disease or pests
The infected patient was quarantined.
quarantine
noun
quar·an·tine
| \ ˈkwȯr-ən-ˌtēn, ˈkwär-
\
\
Medical Definition of quarantine
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: a term during which a ship arriving in port and suspected of carrying contagious disease is held in isolation from the shore
b
: a regulation placing a ship in quarantine
c
: a place where a ship is detained during quarantine
2a
: a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods that is designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests
b
: a place in which those under quarantine are kept
quarantine
verb
quarantined;
quarantining
Medical Definition of quarantine (Entry 2 of 2)
: to detain in or exclude by quarantine
: to establish or declare a quarantine
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on quarantine
What made you want to look up quarantine? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
A Green Quiz
-
- What is the best definition of green-eyed monster?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
A Green Quiz
How many questions can you answer about the word "green"?
Take the quiz -
Return of Name that Color!
Additional colors! More obscure than before!
Take the quiz -
True or False?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
Take the quiz -
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!
Play the game
Share quarantine
Resources for quarantine