confines

1. 1
   nounplural

   The borders or outer limits that mark off an area or space.

   The herd rarely strayed beyond the confines of the green valley.

   Surveyors marked the confines of the new property with wooden stakes.

   Similarboundaries, limits, bounds, borders, edges

   Note

   A noun that lives almost entirely in the plural: a single "confine" is rare, and the confines of a place take a plural verb. It usually comes with the and an of-phrase naming the place, such as the confines of the shed or of the valley. A size adjective slots in easily, as in the small confines of a room, and within and beyond are its natural partners.

2. 2
   nounplural

   The restrictions or pressures that limit a person's freedom of action.

   The painter chafed against the confines of conventional taste.

   Many people escape the confines of daily routine by traveling abroad.

   Similarconstraints, restrictions, limitations, limits, strictures

3. 3
   nounplural

   The boundaries that mark the scope or range of a subject.

   The debate rarely moved beyond the confines of economic theory.

   Her research pushed hard against the confines of the field.

   Similarboundaries, limits, bounds, parameters

4. 4
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of confine.

   The new policy confines smoking to a few designated areas.

   Illness confines her to bed for weeks at a time.

   Note

   Here the spelling belongs to the verb, and it is easy to tell apart from the plural noun for borders. The noun follows the, as in the confines of the shed. The verb takes an object and usually a to-phrase: the policy confines smoking to a few areas. The verb once also meant "to border on," but that use is obsolete. Today it means keeping someone or something within bounds.

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