confine
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to keep a person or animal in a small or closed space.
v.to restrict someone or something within a particular physical area or space. Transitive — requires a direct object.
Simple“The dog was confined to the backyard while the guests were inside.”
In context“During the outbreak, the patients were confined to a specialized ward to prevent the virus from spreading to the rest of the hospital.”
UsageOften used in the passive voice with the preposition 'to'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to stay within a certain limit or topic and not go beyond it.
v.to restrict a discussion, activity, or problem to a specific scope or subject.
Simple“Please confine your comments to the topic we are discussing today.”
In context“The researcher decided to confine the study to urban populations, excluding rural data to maintain a tighter focus on city infrastructure.”
UsageCommonly used with the reflexive pronoun (e.g., 'confine oneself to').
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.the outer limits or borders of a place.
n.the borders or boundaries of a specific area or the limits of a conceptual space.
Simple“It was difficult to stay happy within the narrow confines of the small office.”
In context“The artist felt that her creativity was being stifled within the rigid confines of traditional academic painting.”
UsageAlmost always used in the plural form 'confines'.
Usage confine to · largely confine
“Their hybrid character allows them to coherently transport electromagnetic energy while confining it to spatial scales far below the wavelength of light in free space.”
“By contrast, Florida spends only $30,000 a year to confine someone in a state prison.”
From Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from confīnis.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.