# imprison

Pronunciation: US say "im-PRIZ-uhn" /ɪmˈpɹɪzən/; UK

## Verb

1. To put someone in prison, or to confine them somewhere against their will as if in prison.
   - Simple: To lock someone up in a jail or other closed place against their will.
   - _The regime continued to imprison anyone who criticized its policies._
   - _Heavy snow imprisoned the climbers in their mountain hut for three days._

## Origin

Inherited from Middle English imprisonen (also emprisounen, emprisonen), from Old French emprisonner. It is equivalent to im- combined with prison.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/imprison (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).