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prison

Syllabification: (pris·on)
Pronunciation: /ˈprizən/
Translate prison | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of prison

noun

  • a building (or vessel) in which people are legally held as a punishment for crimes they have committed or while awaiting trial:he died in prison both men were sent to prison

verb (prisons, prisoning, prisoned)

[with object] literary
  • imprison:the young man prisoned behind the doors

Origin:

late Old English, from Old French prisun, from Latin prensio(n-), variant of prehensio(n-) 'laying hold of', from the verb prehendere

prison in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of prison in the British & World English dictionary