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# inmate

noun (an inmate, inmates)

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

## Everyday

1. A person who is kept in a prison. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#m1)
2. (old use) A person living in a hospital or other institution. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#m2)
3. An inmate can also be any creature living inside a place, such as a house. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#m3)

### In the lessons

In news, stories and social studies it means a prisoner. Phrases: prison inmate, fellow inmate. It tells the reader the person is locked up, not free to leave.

### Examples

- The inmates ate lunch in the prison canteen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x1)
- An inmate escaped but was caught the next day. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x2)
- Some inmates study for exams in prison. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x3)
- The film is about two inmates who become friends. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x4)
- Prison guards keep the inmates safe. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x5)
- Each inmate has a small cell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x6)
- When he has gnawed his way with these through all obstacles, he first destroys the babes he finds in a house, and then the older inmates. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/inmate/#x7)

### Note

Countable. Similar: prisoner. «Inmate» sounds formal; do not confuse with «mate» (friend).

## On Mova

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