Adjacent Words

Confine definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CON'FINE, n. [L., at the end or border, adjoining; a limit; end, border, limit. See Fine.] Border; edge; exterior part; the part of any territory which is at or near the end or extremity. It is used generally in the plural, and applied chiefly to the countries, territory, cities, rivers, etc. We say, the confines of France, or of Scotland, and figuratively, the confines of light, of death, or the grave; but never, the confines of a book, table or small piece of land.
CON'FINE, a. Bordering on; lying on the border; adjacent; having a common boundary.
CON'FINE, v.i. To border on; to touch the limit; to be adjacent or contiguous, as one territory, kingdom or state to another; usually followed by on; sometimes by with. England confines on Scotland. Connecticut confines on Massachusets, New-York, Rhode Island and the sound.
CONFI'NE, v.t. [See Supra.]
1. To bound or limit; to restrain within limits; hence, to imprison; to shut up; to restrain from escape by force or insurmountable obstacles, in a general sense; as, to confine horses or cattle to an inclosure; to confine water in a pond, to dam; to confine a garrison in a town; to confine a criminal in prison.
2. To immure; to deep close, by a voluntary act; to be much at home or in retirement; as, a man confines himself to his studies, or to his house.
3. To limit or restrain voluntarily, in some act or practice; as, a man may confine himself to the use of animal food.
4. To tie or bind; to make fast or close; as, to confine air in a bladder, or corn in a bag or sack.
5. To restrain by a moral force; as, to confine men by laws. The constitution of the United States confines the states to the exercise of powers of a local nature.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: place limits on (extent or access); "restrict the use of this parking lot"; "limit the time you can spend with your friends" [syn: restrict, restrain, trammel, limit, bound, confine, throttle]
2: restrict or confine, "I limit you to two visits to the pub a day" [syn: limit, circumscribe, confine]
3: prevent from leaving or from being removed
4: close in; darkness enclosed him" [syn: enclose, hold in, confine]
5: deprive of freedom; take into confinement [syn: confine, detain] [ant: free, liberate, loose, release, unloose, unloosen]
6: to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement; "This holds the local until the express passengers change trains"; "About a dozen animals were held inside the stockade"; "The illegal immigrants were held at a detention center"; "The terrorists held the journalists for ransom" [syn: restrain, confine, hold]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French confines, plural, from Latin confine border, from neuter of confinis adjacent, from com- + finis end Date: 15th century 1. plural a. something (as borders or walls) that encloses <outside the confines of the office or hospital — W. A. Nolen>; also something that restrains <escape from the confines of soot and clutter — E. S. Muskie> b. scope 3 <work within the confines of a small group — Frank Newman> 2. a. archaic restriction b. obsolete prison II. verb (confined; confining) Date: 1523 intransitive verb archaic border transitive verb 1. a. to hold within a location b. imprison 2. to keep within limits <will confine my remarks to one subject> Synonyms: see limit • confiner noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (often foll. by in, to, within) 1 keep or restrict (within certain limits etc.). 2 hold captive; imprison. --n. (usu. in pl.) a limit or boundary (within the confines of the town). Phrases and idioms: be confined be in childbirth. Etymology: (v.) f. F confiner, (n.) ME f. F confins (pl.), f. L confinia (as com-, finia neut. pl. f. finis end, limit)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Confine Con"fine (? or ?); 277), v. i. To have a common boundary; to border; to lie contiguous; to touch; -- followed by on or with. [Obs.] Where your gloomy bounds Confine with heaven. --Milton. Bewixt heaven and earth and skies there stands a place. Confining on all three. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Confine Con"fine, n. 1. Common boundary; border; limit; -- used chiefly in the plural. Events that came to pass within the confines of Judea. --Locke. And now in little space The confines met of empyrean heaven, And of this world. --Milton. On the confines of the city and the Temple. --Macaulay. 2. Apartment; place of restraint; prison. [Obs.] Confines, wards, and dungeons. --Shak. The extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Confine Con*fine", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Confined; p. pr. & vb. n. Confining.] [F. confiner to border upon, LL. confinare to set bounds to; con- + finis boundary, end. See Final, Finish.] To restrain within limits; to restrict; to limit; to bound; to shut up; to inclose; to keep close. Now let not nature's hand Keep the wild flood confined! let order die! --Shak. He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and the slavery of rhyme. --Dryden. To be confined, to be in childbed. Syn: To bound; limit; restrain; imprison; immure; inclose; circumscribe; restrict.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(confines confining, confined) 1. To confine something to a particular place or group means to prevent it from spreading beyond that place or group. Health officials have successfully confined the epidemic to the Tabatinga area... The US will soon be taking steps to confine the conflict. = restrict VERB: V n to n, V n 2. If you confine yourself or your activities to something, you do only that thing and are involved with nothing else. He did not confine himself to the one language... His genius was not confined to the decoration of buildings. = limit, restrict VERB: V pron-refl to n, V-ed 3. If someone is confined to a mental institution, prison, or other place, they are sent there and are not allowed to leave for a period of time. The woman will be confined to a mental institution... VERB: usu passive, be V-ed to n 4. Something that is within the confines of an area or place is within the boundaries enclosing it. (FORMAL) The movie is set entirely within the confines of the abandoned factory. N-PLURAL: usu prep the N of n 5. The confines of a situation, system, or activity are the limits or restrictions it involves. ...away from the confines of the British class system... I can't stand the confines of this marriage. = constraints N-PLURAL: usu the N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Boundary, border, limit, frontier. II. v. a. 1. Restrain, shut up, shut in. 2. Imprison, immure, incarcerate. 3. Limit, circumscribe, bound, restrict.

Moby Thesaurus

arena, arrest, bar, bastille, be into, be strong in, block, border line, bottle up, bound, boundary, boundary condition, boundary line, bounds, bourn, box, box in, box up, break boundary, breakoff point, cabin, cage, casket, ceiling, check, cincture, circumference, circumscribe, circumscription, cloister, close, closet, coffin, compass, condition, constrain, constrict, contain, container, contract, coop, coop in, coop up, copyright, cork up, court, courtyard, cramp, crib, curtilage, cutoff, cutoff point, deadline, delay, delimit, delimitate, delimitation, delimited field, detain, determinant, dimensions, diminish, discipline, division line, drag, draw in, draw the line, encage, encase, enclave, enclose, enclosure, end, entomb, extent, extremity, feature, fence in, field, finish, floor, frontier, go in, go in for, ground, hedge, hedge about, hem, hem in, high-water mark, hinder, hold, hold back, hold in custody, hold in restraint, hold up, immure, impede, impound, incarcerate, inhibit, interface, intern, jail, jug, keep back, keep from spreading, keep in, keep in custody, keep in detention, keep within bounds, lag, limen, limit, limitation, limiting factor, limits, line, line of demarcation, list, localize, low-water mark, lower limit, major in, make late, march, mark, mete, mew, mew up, minor in, moderate, narrow, obstruct, orbit, pale, paling, park, patent, pen, pen up, periphery, pound, precincts, prison, purlieus, pursue, purview, quad, quadrangle, qualify, quod, radius, rail in, reach, register, restrain, restrict, retard, scant, scope, seal up, shackle, shut in, shut up, slacken, slow down, snape, specialize, specialize in, square, start, starting line, starting point, stay, stint, stop, straiten, sweep, taper, target date, term, terminal date, terminus, theater, threshold, tighten, time allotment, toft, upper limit, wall in, yard