confine
v.v. to keep someone or something inside a small space or within certain limits. You use this when you want to say that something is not allowed to spread or move beyond a specific area.
v. to restrict someone or something within certain limits of space, scope, or activity. Often used in the passive voice to describe being restricted to a specific location or condition.
Please confine your comments to the current topic.
The doctor advised the patient to stay in bed and confine his movements to the house until the fever broke.
The legal debate was confined to the interpretation of a single clause in the contract, effectively ignoring the broader ethical implications of the company's actions.
From Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from confīnis.
The verb is transitive and frequently takes the preposition 'to' after the direct object.
The illness confined him in bed.The illness confined him to bed.When describing restriction to a place or state, 'confine' typically takes the preposition 'to' rather than 'in'.