INDEX:
1. a place where people are kept as punishment
2. to put someone in prison as a punishment
3. to force someone to stay in a place as a prisoner
4. to be in prison as a punishment
5. to be kept in a place by the police
6. someone who is in prison as a punishment for a crime
7. someone who is kept in a place when they do not want to be there
8. when someone is kept in a place they do not want to be in
9. the period of time that someone must spend in prison
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ PUNISH
↑ CRIME
↑ COURT/TRIAL
↑ CATCH
↑ ESCAPE
↑ FREE
↑ LAW
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1. a place where people are kept as punishment
▷ prison /ˈprɪz ə n/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a large building where people are kept as a punishment for a crime :
▪ Conditions in the prison were shocking.
▪ a maximum security prison
in prison
▪ Johnson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.
▪ The prosecuting lawyers say that Price may face life in prison.
be released from prison
▪ When he was released from prison, Mandela was interviewed in Zambia.
prison officials/conditions/regulations etc
▪ Clayton will be released on Tuesday after serving seven years, prison officials said.
prison sentence
how long someone has to spend in prison
▪ a fifteen-year prison sentence
▷ jail /dʒeɪl/ [countable noun]
a prison, or similar smaller building where prisoners who are waiting for a trial are kept :
▪ This old building is the jail that Butch Cassidy escaped from in 1887.
▪ Alfassi was taken to a cell in the Los Angeles County jail.
in jail
▪ 58% of prisoners are in jail for non-violent crimes.
be put/thrown in jail
▪ The strikers were harassed, beaten and put in jail for trespassing.
go to jail/be sent to jail
▪ Grover got caught for not paying his taxes and went to jail.
jail sentence/term
how long someone has to spend in jail
▪ The riots ended with long jail terms for 338 mobsters.
▷ penitentiary /ˌpenɪˈtenʃəri, ˌpenəˈtenʃəri/ [countable noun] American
a large prison for people who are guilty of serious crimes :
▪ The murderer served 10 years at the penitentiary in Stillwater.
▪ the Ohio State penitentiary
▪ the abandoned federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island
▷ cell /sel/ [countable noun]
a small room in a prison or police station, where someone is kept as a punishment :
▪ Conditions were poor, and there were several prisoners to one cell.
prison/jail cell
▪ The prison cells have doors of heavy steel.
▷ detention centre British /detention center American /dɪˈtenʃ ə n ˌsentəʳ/ [countable noun]
a place where young people who have done something illegal are kept, because they are too young to go to prison :
▪ Kevin, who had been abandoned by his mother, had been in and out of detention centres all his life.
▪ a juvenile detention center
2. to put someone in prison as a punishment
▷ put somebody in prison/jail also send somebody to prison/jail /ˌpʊt somebody ɪn ˈprɪz ə n, ˈdʒeɪl, ˌsend somebody tə ˈprɪz ə n, ˈdʒeɪl/ [verb phrase]
to officially order someone to be taken to prison and kept there :
▪ Eventually, her attacker was caught and put in prison.
▪ The judge sent him to jail for seven years.
▷ lock up /ˌlɒk ˈʌpǁˌlɑːk-/ [transitive phrasal verb] informal
to put someone in prison - use this especially when you think that someone deserves to be in prison :
lock somebody up
▪ Rapists deserve to be locked up for the rest of their lives.
lock up somebody
▪ It costs $23,000 a year to lock up an adult.
▪ Locking up more criminals has helped to reduce the crime rate and produce safer streets.
▷ throw somebody in jail /ˌθrəʊ somebody ɪn ˈdʒeɪl/ [verb phrase]
to put someone in prison - use this especially when you think that someone does not deserve to be in prison :
▪ The court’s decision suggests that it is OK to throw pregnant women in jail just because they are addicted.
▪ When they called for free elections, the government threw them all in jail.
▷ jail /dʒeɪl/ [transitive verb usually in passive]
to put someone in prison for a fixed period of time - used especially in newspaper reports :
▪ Many of the group’s leaders have now been jailed.
be jailed for (doing) something
▪ About 5000 people have been jailed for crimes of terrorism or treason since 1992.
▪ Marco was arrested and jailed for accepting bribes from drug dealers.
▷ imprison /ɪmˈprɪz ə n/ [transitive verb usually in passive] formal
to put someone in prison - use this especially when you think the punishment is wrong or unfair :
▪ Thousands of civilians were arrested, imprisoned and killed
be imprisoned for (doing) something
▪ Two of the boys have been imprisoned for theft.
▪ The priest had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel.
imprisonment [uncountable noun]
▪ The maximum penalty is three years’ imprisonment.
▪ It was a very sad case of false imprisonment.
▷ incarcerate /ɪnˈkɑːʳsəreɪt/ [transitive verb usually in passive]
to put someone in prison - used in newspapers, television etc and in formal contexts :
▪ Carter spent 19 years incarcerated in New Jersey on murder charges.
▪ There are too many people on death row who are innocent of the crimes for which they are incarcerated.
incarceration /ɪnˌkɑːʳsəˈreɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ Anyone speaking out against the regime faced death or incarceration.
▷ intern /ɪnˈtɜːʳn/ [transitive verb usually in passive]
to put someone, especially someone from another country, in prison during a war, because they are thought to be dangerous :
▪ The French soldiers, who had surrendered without fighting, were interned in Hanoi.
▪ Thousands died. And thousands were interned in forced labour camps.
internment [uncountable noun]
▪ One of the subjects for debate was the government’s power of internment without trial.
3. to force someone to stay in a place as a prisoner
▷ keep /kiːp/ [transitive verb]
to force someone to stay in a place, as if they were a prisoner :
▪ West had abducted the young girl and kept her in his basement for 10 days.
keep somebody prisoner
▪ Police think that the woman may have been kept prisoner for the twenty four hours before she was murdered.
▷ take somebody hostage /ˌteɪk somebody ˈhɒstɪdʒǁ-ˈhɑː-/ [verb phrase]
if an enemy or group of criminals takes someone hostage, they keep that person as a prisoner, and threaten to kill or injure them unless they get what they want :
▪ The government is concerned that British troops might be taken hostage by guerrillas.
▪ A band of human rights activists stormed the embassy and took several people hostage.
▷ hold /həʊld/ [transitive verb]
to keep someone in a place and not allow them to leave - used especially in news reports :
▪ Police are holding two men in connection with the robbery.
hold somebody prisoner/hostage/captive
▪ Several tourists were being held captive by rebels in Kashmir.
▪ Militant prisoners held 24 guards hostage on Friday, as jail unrest spread throughout the country.
▷ confine /kənˈfaɪn/ [transitive verb usually in passive]
to make someone stay in a very small place, with the result that their freedom or movements are restricted :
confine somebody to something
▪ The judge has confined the jury to their hotel until after the verdict.
▪ All the illegal immigrants were confined to a small island in the harbour.
be confined in
▪ Brett was eventually confined in a psychiatric hospital, where he committed suicide.
confinement [uncountable noun]
▪ Many women spent a lifetime of virtual confinement in the home.
solitary confinement
when a prisoner is kept completely alone for a period of time
▪ Pratt spent the first eight years of his prison sentence in solitary confinement.
▷ shut up /ˌʃʌt ˈʌp/ [transitive phrasal verb usually in passive] informal
to put or keep someone in a place so that they are no longer free :
shut somebody up
▪ According to the legend, Acrisius built an underground house for his daughter. Here he shut her up and guarded her.
▪ The lawyer claimed that his client had been shut up in a prison cell for hours, when there was no legal reason to keep him.
4. to be in prison as a punishment
▷ be in prison/jail /biː ɪn ˈprɪz ə n, ˈdʒeɪl/ [verb phrase]
▪ Both her sons are now in jail.
▪ The two Irishmen were in prison for five years before they were found to be innocent.
▷ be inside /biː ɪnˈsaɪd/ [verb phrase] informal
to be in prison - used especially by someone who has been in prison and is talking about their experience :
▪ ‘When I was inside,’ said Jimmy. ‘I really learned how to look after myself.’
▷ do time /ˌduː ˈtaɪm/ [verb phrase] informal
to be in prison for a period of time as a punishment for a crime :
▪ Sid’s wife ran off with another man while he was doing time.
do time for
▪ None of us knew that Greg had done time for stealing cars.
▷ serve /sɜːʳv/ [transitive verb]
to spend a period of time in prison, especially the period that a judge has said you must spend there :
serve 3 years/6 months etc (for something)
▪ Holt is currently serving five years for child abduction.
serve time (for something)
▪ Both the brothers had criminal records and had served time for robbery.
serve time in prison/jail
▪ She met Schmidt while serving time in prison for drug possession.
serve a sentence
▪ Fowler was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
5. to be kept in a place by the police
▷ be in custody /biː ɪn ˈkʌstədi/ [verb phrase]
if someone who the police think is guilty of a crime is in custody, they are kept in prison until it is time for them to be judged in a law court :
▪ The twenty-seven militants now in custody were arrested in raids last month.
be in police custody
▪ An inquiry has been launched following the death of a man in police custody.
be held in custody
▪ A woman is being held in custody in connection with the murder.
be remanded in custody
British be sent back to prison from a court until your trial
▪ Naylor was remanded in custody by Huyton magistrates until June 17th.
▷ be under arrest /biː ˌʌndər əˈrest/ [verb phrase]
if someone is under arrest, the police are keeping them guarded because they think they are guilty of a crime :
▪ Police confirmed last night that Mr Joshi is under arrest.
be under arrest for
▪ I’m afraid your son is under arrest for theft.
▷ be detained /biː dɪˈteɪnd/ [verb phrase]
to be kept somewhere by the police or army so that you cannot leave, and especially so that they can ask you questions :
▪ On Tuesday last week, Finnegan was detained and questioned by fraud squad officers.
be detained for
▪ He was detained for questioning about the terrorist attacks.
6. someone who is in prison as a punishment for a crime
▷ prisoner /ˈprɪz ə nəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone who is kept in prison as a punishment :
▪ The prisoners are allowed an hour’s exercise every day.
political prisoner
someone who is a prisoner because of their political beliefs
▪ Thousands of political prisoners remain imprisoned, frequently as a result of unfair trials.
▷ convict /ˈkɒnvɪktǁˈkɑːn-/ [countable noun]
someone who has been proved guilty of a crime and has been sent to prison :
▪ Sakhalin was an island where convicts were sent, 700 miles from Khabarovsk.
ex-convict
someone who used to be in prison
▪ Stubbs was an ex-convict who got a job as a security guard.
an escaped convict
someone who has escaped from prison
▪ There was a report on the news about an escaped convict.
▷ inmate /ˈɪnmeɪt/ [countable noun]
a prisoner in a particular prison :
▪ More than half the inmates were there for some sort of violent crime.
prison inmate
▪ The number of prison inmates has been increasing in recent years.
7. someone who is kept in a place when they do not want to be there
▷ prisoner /ˈprɪz ə nəʳ/ [countable noun]
▪ My parents were very strict. Sometimes I felt like a prisoner in my own home.
▪ It’s a science fiction story about people being taken to another planet as prisoners.
hold/keep somebody prisoner
▪ Mann was held prisoner in the back of the Chevrolet and told she was going to be killed.
▷ prisoner of war/POW /ˌprɪz ə nər əv ˈwɔːʳ, ˌpiː əʊ ˈdʌb ə ljuː/ [countable noun]
a soldier etc who is caught by the enemy during a war and kept as a prisoner :
▪ There were general codes covering such matters as the treatment of prisoners of war.
▪ a POW camp
▷ captive /ˈkæptɪv/ [countable noun]
someone who is kept in a place illegally, especially in a war - used especially in literature :
▪ All the captives were kept in a darkened room with their hands tied.
▪ The rebels promised to release their captives unharmed if the government did as they said.
▷ hostage /ˈhɒstɪdʒǁˈhɑː-/ [countable noun]
someone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy country or organization, and is threatened with death or injury if that person’s government or organization does not do what the enemy wants :
▪ The terrorists say that they will kill the hostages if we don’t agree to their demands.
▪ An attempt to rescue the American hostages ended in disaster when a helicopter crashed.
take somebody hostage
make someone your hostage
▪ The medical team were captured and taken hostage.
hold somebody hostage
keep someone in a place as your hostage
▪ A British journalist was held hostage for over four years.
▷ detainee /ˌdiːteɪˈniː/ [countable noun]
someone who is being kept in a place by the police while they are waiting to go to court, or so that the police can ask them questions about something illegal they may have done :
▪ The government has ordered the trial of all detainees within six months.
▪ According to a recent report, many detainees claim that police have mistreated them.
8. when someone is kept in a place they do not want to be in
▷ captivity /kæpˈtɪvɪti, kæpˈtɪvəti/ [uncountable noun]
▪ In his book, he describes what life was like during his long captivity.
in captivity
▪ The industrialist, who was captured on November 24th, was freed after 84 days in captivity.
be held/kept in captivity
▪ Folkes says that he was held in captivity for over a year.
▷ imprisonment /ɪmˈprɪz ə nmənt/ [uncountable noun]
the state of being kept as a prisoner, especially as punishment for a crime :
▪ Johnson was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for causing a riot.
life imprisonment
▪ Many women believe that the punishment for rape should be life imprisonment.
▷ detention /dɪˈtenʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun] especially British
when someone is kept in a place such as a prison because they may have done something illegal :
▪ Cases of detention without trial were common in the last century.
▪ Ormerod, aged 19, was sentenced to nine months’ detention for possessing and supplying cannabis.
be held/kept in detention
▪ Marik, who had been held in detention for over a year, was eventually found not guilty.
release somebody from detention
▪ Mrs Davis was released from detention yesterday and all charges have been dropped.
9. the period of time that someone must spend in prison
▷ sentence /ˈsent ə ns/ [countable noun]
the period of time that a judge decides that someone should spend in prison :
▪ Belfast Appeal Court increased his sentence from five to nine years.
serve a sentence (for something)
▪ He was recently freed after serving a sentence for leading anti-government riots.
serve a 2-year/10-year etc sentence
▪ Perrault is serving a 15-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.
prison/jail sentence
▪ Moore began an eighteen-month prison sentence in November.
life sentence
when someone is in prison for the rest of their life
▪ Hailey is serving a life sentence, and is reported to be in poor health.
death sentence
when a judge says that a criminal’s punishment is death
▪ If found guilty of first-degree murder, Bangham could face the death sentence.
sentence [transitive verb]
▪ The judge said that his was a very serious crime, and sentenced him to eight years in prison.
▪ 60 prisoners have been sentenced to death in political trials.