pris·on

(prĭz′ən)

1. A place for the confinement and punishment of persons convicted of crimes, especially felonies.

2. A state of imprisonment or captivity: years spent in prison.

3. A place or condition of confinement or restriction: felt his job had been a prison.

tr.v. pris·oned, pris·on·ing, pris·ons

To confine in or as if in a prison; imprison.

[Middle English, from Old French, alteration (influenced by Old French pris, taken) of Latin prēnsiō, prēnsiōn-, a seizing, from *prehēnsiō, from prehēnsus, past participle of prehendere, to seize; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

prison

(ˈprɪzən)

1. (Law) a public building used to house convicted criminals and accused persons remanded in custody and awaiting trial. See also jail, penitentiary, reformatory

2. any place of confinement or seeming confinement

[C12: from Old French prisun, from Latin prēnsiō a capturing, from prehendere to lay hold of]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pris•on

(ˈprɪz ən)

n.

1. a building for the confinement of accused persons awaiting trial or persons sentenced after conviction.

2. any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.

3. imprisonment.

[before 1150; Middle English prison, earlier prisun < Old French, variant of preson imprisonment, a prison < Latin pre(hē)nsiōnem, acc. of prehēnsiō seizure; see prehension]

prison

1. used as a countable noun

A prison is a building where criminals or other people are kept and are not allowed to leave.

The prison housed almost 500 inmates.

The castle was used as a prison at one time.

2. used as an uncountable noun

Prison is used without an article when talking about the punishment of going to prison, without mentioning which particular prison. For example, you can say that someone is in prison, is sent to prison, or is released from prison.

They were threatened with prison if they did not pay.

It can be hard to find work after coming out of prison.

Be Careful!
Don't use 'the' in front of prison unless you are referring to a particular prison.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	prison - a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment prison house bastille - a jail or prison (especially one that is run in a tyrannical manner) cellblock, ward - a division of a prison (usually consisting of several cells) chokey, choky - British slang (dated) for a prison correctional institution - a penal institution maintained by the government nick - (British slang) a prison; "he's in the nick" panopticon - a circular prison with cells distributed around a central surveillance station; proposed by Jeremy Bentham in 1791 state prison - a prison maintained by a state of the U.S.
	2.	prison - a prisonlike situation; a place of seeming confinement prison house situation, state of affairs - the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation"- Franklin D.Roosevelt

prison

noun jail, confinement, can (slang), pound, nick (Brit. slang), stir (slang), cooler (slang), jug (slang), dungeon, clink (slang), glasshouse (Military informal), gaol, penitentiary (U.S.), slammer (slang), lockup, quod (slang), penal institution, calaboose (U.S. informal), choky (slang), poky or pokey (U.S. & Canad. slang) They released him from prison in 1990.

Quotations
"Prison is a second-by-second assault on the soul, a day-to-day degradation of the self" [Mumia Abu-Jamal Live From Death Row]
"Stone walls do not a prison make,"
"Nor iron bars a cage" [Richard Lovelace To Althea, from Prison]
"Prisons are built with stones of Law, brothels with bricks of Religion" [William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

prison

noun

A place for the confinement of persons in lawful detention:

brig, house of correction, jail, keep, penitentiary.

Informal: lockup, pen.

Slang: big house, can, clink, cooler, coop, hoosegow, joint, jug, pokey, slammer, stir.

Chiefly Regional: calaboose.

Translations

حَبْسسِجْن

vězení

fængselfængslet

Gefängnis Haft Knast Bau Gefangenschaft

φυλακή δεσμωτήριο

prisión cárcel

vankilavankeusvankeusrangaistus

prison carcéral placard

zatvor

börtön

fangelsi

prigione carcere reclusorio

刑務所

교도소

carcer

karo belaisvis

cietums

zapor

fängelse

เรือนจำ

hapisanehapishane

nhà tù

监狱

prison

[ˈprɪzn]

A. N

1. (= place) → cárcel f, prisión f
to be in prison → estar en la cárcel, estar en prisión
to go to prison for five years (= be sentenced) → ser condenado a cinco años de cárcel or prisión; (= be imprisoned) → pasar cinco años en la cárcel or en prisión
to put sb in prison → encarcelar a algn
to release sb from prison → poner a algn en libertad, excarcelar a algn (frm)
to send sb to prison (= imprison) → encarcelar a algn
to send sb to prison for two years (= sentence) → condenar a algn a dos años de prisión
see also maximum A1
see also open E

2. (= imprisonment) → prisión f, cárcel f
are there alternatives to prison? → ¿existen alternativas a la prisión or cárcel?

B. CPD prison break N → fuga f (de la cárcel)
prison camp N → campamento m para prisioneros
prison cell N → celda f de la cárcel or prisión
prison governor N → director(a) m/f de (la) prisión
prison life N → vida f en la cárcel
prison officer N → carcelero/a m/f
prison population N → número m de reclusos
prison riot N → motín m carcelario
prison sentence N (Brit) → condena f
see also serve A4 the prison service N → los servicios penitenciarios
prison system N → sistema m penitenciario
prison term N (US) = prison sentence prison van N → coche m celular
prison visitor N → visitante mf de la prisión
prison warden N (US) = prison governor prison yard N → patio m de (la) cárcel

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

prison

[ˈprɪz^ən]

(= jail) → prison f
in prison → en prison
to be in prison → être en prison
to become a prison [relationship, situation] → devenir une prison

(= imprisonment) → prison f
Are there alternatives to prison? → Y a-t-il des alternatives à la prison?

modif [cell, governor] → de prison; [doctor, chaplain] → de la prison; [staff] → pénitentiaire; [reform, system] → pénitentiaire prison inmate, prison warderprison camp n → camp m de prisonniers

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

prison

n (lit, fig) → Gefängnis nt; to be in prison → im Gefängnis sein or sitzen; to go to prison for 5 years → für or auf 5 Jahre ins Gefängnis gehen or wandern (inf); to send somebody to prison → jdn ins Gefängnis schicken, jdn zu einer Freiheitsstrafe verurteilen

attr → Gefängnis-

prison

prison bitch

n (US inf) to make somebody one’s prison → jdn zu seinem Sklaven/seiner Sklavin machen, jdn ausnutzen or für sich arbeiten lassen

prison breach, prison breaking

n → Gefängnisausbruch m, → Ausbruch m → aus dem Gefängnis

prison camp

n → Gefangenenlager nt

prison

prison guard

n (US) = prison officer

prison life

n → das Leben im Gefängnis

prison officer

n (Brit) → Gefängniswärter(in) or -aufseher(in) m(f)

prison system

n → Strafvollzugssystem nt

prison visitor

n → Gefangenenbetreuer(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

prison

[ˈprɪzn]

1. n → prigione f, carcere m
to be in prison → essere in prigione
to go to prison for 5 years → essere condannato/a a 5 anni di carcere or di reclusione
to send sb to prison for 2 years → condannare qn a 2 anni di reclusione

2. adj (system) → carcerario/a; (conditions, food) → nelle or delle prigioni

prison

(ˈprizn) noun

a building in which criminals are kept; a jail. He was sent to prison; He is in prison.

ˈprisoner noun

anyone who has been captured and is held against his will as a criminal, in a war etc. The prisoners escaped from jail.

prisoner of war – plural prisoners of war

– a member of the armed forces captured in a war.

take/keep/hold prisoner

to (capture and) confine (a person) against his will. Many soldiers were killed and the rest taken prisoner; She was kept prisoner in a locked room.

prison

→ حَبْس vězení fængsel Gefängnis φυλακή prisión vankila prison zatvor prigione 刑務所 교도소 gevangenis fengsel więzienie prisão тюрьма fängelse เรือนจำ hapishane nhà tù 监狱

prison

n prisión f, cárcel f

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The punishment usually inflicted is imprisonment in the University prison. As I understand it, a student's case is often tried without his being present at all.

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"Keep that, until I get out of prison. If I never get out, take it to the Crooked Magician, to whom it belongs."

View in context

The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. In accordance with this rule it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house somewhere in the Vicinity of Cornhill, almost as seasonably as they marked out the first burial-ground, on Isaac Johnson's lot, and round about his grave, which subsequently became the nucleus of all the congregated sepulchres in the old churchyard of King's Chapel.

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Before I could prove to them that this proceeding was a gross infringement on the liberties of the British subject, I found myself lodged within the walls of a prison.

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Then the King turned to some of the black men who were standing near and said, "Take away this medicine-man--with all his animals, and lock them up in my strongest prison."

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The Attorney General caused, on the 16th of August, 1672, Cornelius de Witt to be arrested; and the noble brother of John de Witt had, like the vilest criminal, to undergo, in one of the apartments of the town prison, the preparatory degrees of torture, by means of which his judges expected to force from him the confession of his alleged plot against William of Orange.

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May bloom in prison air; The shard, the pebble, and the flint,

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The street is broad, the shops are spacious, the noise of passing vehicles, the footsteps of a perpetual stream of people--all the busy sounds of traffic, resound in it from morn to midnight; but the streets around are mean and close; poverty and debauchery lie festering in the crowded alleys; want and misfortune are pent up in the narrow prison; an air of gloom and dreariness seems, in my eyes at least, to hang about the scene, and to impart to it a squalid and sickly hue.

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Pinocchio is robbed of his gold pieces and, in punishment, is sentenced to four months in prison

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Here we found a small stone prison and a guard of half a dozen blacks.

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This visit was not wholly unexpected, for his house, which fronted the street, was strongly barricaded, the wicket-gate of the prison was closed up, and at no loophole or grating was any person to be seen.

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Nothing but the production of the afflicted Gabelle's letter from his prison of the Abbaye would have got him on so far.

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