imprison
v.v. to put someone in a place they cannot leave, like a jail or a locked room. It means taking away someone's freedom.
v. to confine a person in a prison or a place of restricted movement. Transitive; implies a formal or forceful deprivation of liberty.
The judge decided to imprison the thief for two years.
The government chose to imprison the political activists without a trial during the national emergency.
Historians argue that the decision to imprison the former monarch only served to galvanize the resistance and accelerate the eventual revolution.
Inherited from Middle English imprisonen, emprisounen, emprisonen, from Old French emprisonner. Equivalent to im- + prison.
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object, typically a person or group.
He was imprisoned to five years.He was imprisoned for five years.Imprison describes the act of confinement; use 'for' to indicate the duration of the sentence.