imprison

UK: /ɪmˈprɪz^ən/ US: /ɪmˈprɪzən/ ,(im priz′ən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

im•pris•on /ɪmˈprɪzən/   v. [~ + object]

1. to confine in a prison:
   They imprisoned him in a dark dungeon.

im•pris•on•ment, n. 

[uncountable] Imprisonment seemed so cruel.

[countable] an imprisonment of a few years.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

im•pris•on  (im priz′ən), v.t. 

1. to confine in or as if in a prison.

• Old French enprisoner, equivalent. to en- en-¹ + prison prison + -er infinitive suffix
• Middle English enprisonen 1250–1300

im•pris′on•a•ble, adj. 
im•pris′on•er, n. 
im•pris′on•ment, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. incarcerate, jail, restrain.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

imprison / ɪmˈprɪzən/ verb

1. (transitive) to confine in or as if in prison

imˈprisonment noun