26984 words

prison

4 definitions • 11 examples
1
a building where criminals are forced to live as a punishment:

Examples:

Conditions in the prison are said to be appalling.
He's spent a lot of time in prison.
She went to/was sent to prison for six months.
It was a maximum-security prison (= intended to be especially difficult to escape from).
They should put him in prison and throw away the key!
a prison cell/sentence/guard
2
the system of keeping people in prisons:

Examples:

the prison system
Do you think prison works?
Prison (= the time he had spent in prison) hadn't changed him at all.
3
a situation or relationship from which it is difficult to escape:

Examples:

She felt that her marriage had become a prison.
4
a building where criminals are kept as a punishment:

Examples:

[ U ] He was sent to prison for life.

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