[syn: restrain, confine, hold]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Confine \Con"fine\ (? or ?); 277), v. i.
To have a common boundary; to border; to lie contiguous; to
touch; -- followed by on or with. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Where your gloomy bounds
Confine with heaven. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Bewixt heaven and earth and skies there stands a place.
Confining on all three. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Confine \Con"fine\, n.
1. Common boundary; border; limit; -- used chiefly in the
plural.
[1913 Webster]
Events that came to pass within the confines of
Judea. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
And now in little space
The confines met of empyrean heaven,
And of this world. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
On the confines of the city and the Temple.
--Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. Apartment; place of restraint; prison. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Confines, wards, and dungeons. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The extravagant and erring spirit hies
To his confine. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Confine \Con*fine"\ (k[o^]n*f[imac]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Confined; p. pr. & vb. n. Confining.] [F. confiner to
border upon, LL. confinare to set bounds to; con- + finis
boundary, end. See Final, Finish.]
To restrain within limits; to restrict; to limit; to bound;
to shut up; to inclose; to keep close.
[1913 Webster]
Now let not nature's hand
Keep the wild flood confined! let order die! --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and
the slavery of rhyme. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
To be confined, to be in childbed.
Syn: To bound; limit; restrain; imprison; immure; inclose;
circumscribe; restrict.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
confine
v 1: place limits on (extent or access); "restrict the use of
this parking lot"; "limit the time you can spend with your
friends" [syn: restrict, restrain, trammel, limit,
bound, confine, throttle]
2: restrict or confine, "I limit you to two visits to the pub a
day" [syn: limit, circumscribe, confine]
3: prevent from leaving or from being removed
4: close in; darkness enclosed him" [syn: enclose, hold in,
confine]
5: deprive of freedom; take into confinement [syn: confine,
detain] [ant: free, liberate, loose, release,
unloose, unloosen]
6: to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement;
"This holds the local until the express passengers change
trains"; "About a dozen animals were held inside the
stockade"; "The illegal immigrants were held at a detention
center"; "The terrorists held the journalists for ransom"
[syn: restrain, confine, hold]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
192 Moby Thesaurus words for "confine":
arena, arrest, bar, bastille, be into, be strong in, block,
border line, bottle up, bound, boundary, boundary condition,
boundary line, bounds, bourn, box, box in, box up, break boundary,
breakoff point, cabin, cage, casket, ceiling, check, cincture,
circumference, circumscribe, circumscription, cloister, close,
closet, coffin, compass, condition, constrain, constrict, contain,
container, contract, coop, coop in, coop up, copyright, cork up,
court, courtyard, cramp, crib, curtilage, cutoff, cutoff point,
deadline, delay, delimit, delimitate, delimitation,
delimited field, detain, determinant, dimensions, diminish,
discipline, division line, drag, draw in, draw the line, encage,
encase, enclave, enclose, enclosure, end, entomb, extent,
extremity, feature, fence in, field, finish, floor, frontier,
go in, go in for, ground, hedge, hedge about, hem, hem in,
high-water mark, hinder, hold, hold back, hold in custody,
hold in restraint, hold up, immure, impede, impound, incarcerate,
inhibit, interface, intern, jail, jug, keep back,
keep from spreading, keep in, keep in custody, keep in detention,
keep within bounds, lag, limen, limit, limitation, limiting factor,
limits, line, line of demarcation, list, localize, low-water mark,
lower limit, major in, make late, march, mark, mete, mew, mew up,
minor in, moderate, narrow, obstruct, orbit, pale, paling, park,
patent, pen, pen up, periphery, pound, precincts, prison, purlieus,
pursue, purview, quad, quadrangle, qualify, quod, radius, rail in,
reach, register, restrain, restrict, retard, scant, scope, seal up,
shackle, shut in, shut up, slacken, slow down, snape, specialize,
specialize in, square, start, starting line, starting point, stay,
stint, stop, straiten, sweep, taper, target date, term,
terminal date, terminus, theater, threshold, tighten,
time allotment, toft, upper limit, wall in, yard