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# imprisoned

past tense and past participle of imprison (imprison, imprisons, imprisoned, imprisoning); adjective (imprisoned)

«imprisoned» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Put in prison as a punishment, or kept in prison. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#m1)
2. Kept somewhere and not able to get out, like a trapped animal or a princess in a tower. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#m2)
3. (figurative) Unable to escape a feeling or situation: «imprisoned by fear». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#m3)

### In the lessons

In history and stories people are imprisoned for crimes, or unfairly for their beliefs; in the Bible Joseph and Paul were imprisoned. In ethics lessons pupils discuss fair punishment and people imprisoned for speaking up. Phrases: «be imprisoned for», «wrongly imprisoned», «imprisoned in a tower».

### Examples

- The thief was imprisoned for two years. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x1)
- Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt, though he had done nothing wrong. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x2)
- The princess was imprisoned in a high tower. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x3)
- Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for a very long time before becoming president. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x4)
- The bird felt imprisoned in its small cage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x5)
- Paul wrote letters while he was imprisoned. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x6)
- ‘Ah! cruel Queen! what have I ever done to be imprisoned like this? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/#x7)

### Note

Regular verb: imprison, imprisoned. Noun: imprisonment. Usually passive: «He was imprisoned.» Similar: jailed, locked up (informal).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «imprisoned» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/imprisoned/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«imprisoned» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/imprisoned.html) on Mova free.