con·fines

(kŏn′fīnz′)

pl.n.

1. The limits of a space or area; the borders: within the confines of one county.

2. Restraining elements: wanted to escape the confines of corporate politics.

3. Purview; scope: a theory that is well within the confines of science.

[Old French confins, boundaries, from Latin cōnfīnia, pl. of cōnfīnium, boundary, from cōnfīnis, adjoining : com-, com- + fīnis, border.]

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.

confines

(ˈkɒnfaɪnz)

pl n

limits; boundaries

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

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

confines - a bounded scope; "he stayed within the confines of the city"

ambit, range, scope, reach, compass, orbit - an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "a piano has a greater range than the human voice"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power"

plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

Translations

حَدود

hranicepomezí

grænseramme

Grenze

határok

mörk

grenser

hranice

hudutlarsınırlar

境界

confines

[ˈkɒnfaɪnz] NPL → confines mpl, límites mpl

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

confines

[ˈkɒnfaɪnz] npl → confins mpl, limites fpl
within the confines of → dans les limites de

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

confines

[ˈkɒnfaɪnz] npl (bounds) → confini mpl

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

confine

(kənˈfain) verb

1. to keep within limits; to stop from spreading. They succeeded in confining the fire to a small area.

2. to shut up or imprison. The prince was confined in the castle for three years.

conˈfined adjective

1. (with to) kept in or shut up in. confined to bed with a cold.

2. narrow, small. a confined space.

conˈfinement noun

1. state of being shut up or imprisoned. solitary confinement.

2. (the time of) the birth of a child. her third confinement.

ˈconfines (ˈkon-) noun plural

limits or boundaries. within the confines of the city.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But if the area be large, its several districts will almost certainly present different conditions of life; and then if natural selection be modifying and improving a species in the several districts, there will be intercrossing with the other individuals of the same species on the confines of each.

View in context

Creon desires to bury Oedipus on the confines of Thebes so as to avoid the pollution and yet offer due rites at his tomb.

View in context

And, more surprising still, a high screen with folding sides stands before the fire, and confines the light which it might otherwise give exclusively to the ceiling.

View in context

I do not pretend to plead the immunities of my order so highly as this; but neither will I allow that the author of a modern antique romance is obliged to confine himself to the introduction of those manners only which can be proved to have absolutely existed in the times he is depicting, so that he restrain himself to such as are plausible and natural, and contain no obvious anachronism.

View in context

As for elves and fairies, and other such mummery, I purposely omit the mention of them, as I should be very unwilling to confine within any bounds those surprizing imaginations, for whose vast capacity the limits of human nature are too narrow; whose works are to be considered as a new creation; and who have consequently just right to do what they will with their own.

View in context

They differ, again, in their length: for Tragedy endeavours, as far as possible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed this limit; whereas the Epic action has no limits of time.

View in context