-z( ə )nə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French prisonier, from Old French, from prison + -ier -er
1. : a person held under restraint: as
a. : a person held under arrest or in prison
b. : prisoner of war , captive
c. : a person involuntarily restrained (as by duties, responsibilities, or possessions)
the … star becomes the prisoner of her own stardom — Delmore Schwartz
was the prisoner of his own suspicious nature
d. : a convert to Salvationism
prisoners … or persons captured for the Kingdom — Salvation Army Orders for Officers
2.
a. : a piece of metal fitted into the segments of a flywheel rim so as to hold them together and usually held in place by taper keys or close-fitting bolts
b. : a metal link recessed on both sides so that when fitted hot into an appropriate opening in two segments of a flywheel rim the contraction of the link draws the segments together — called also shrink link
3. : something that is restrained as if in a prison
made prisoners of her little hands in his