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# prisoner

noun (a prisoner, prisoners)

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

## Everyday

1. A person who is kept in prison as a punishment for a crime. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#m1)
2. A person who is caught and kept somewhere and is not allowed to leave (a prisoner of war). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#m2)
3. Someone who feels trapped by something (a prisoner of fear). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#m3)

### In the lessons

Used in history (prisoners of war, castles and dungeons), stories and news about crime. Tells the reader someone has lost their freedom. Phrases: «take someone prisoner», «hold prisoner», «prisoner of war», «escaped prisoner».

### Examples

- The prisoner was locked in a cell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#x1)
- The knight was taken prisoner. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#x2)
- Two prisoners escaped from the jail. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#x3)
- The pirates held the captain prisoner on their ship. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#x4)
- Prisoners of war were sent home at the end of the war. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#x5)
- She felt like a prisoner in her own house during the storm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prisoner/#x6)

### Note

Countable. Related words: «prison» (the building), «jail» (US «jail», UK also «gaol» — old spelling), «imprison». A «prisoner» is not always a criminal: prisoners of war are soldiers who were captured.

## In Jewish tradition

A person kept in prison. In the Psalms, Job and Lamentations, prisoners are people in captivity or distress, and the prophets use it for exiles.

**Interpretation.** Tradition reads the Psalm as teaching that God hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity. Lamentations is read as showing that crushing prisoners is a wrong God sees.

### Examples

- And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison. (Torah GEN.39.20, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/prisoner/#x1)
- And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. (Torah GEN.39.22, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/prisoner/#x2)
- To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, (Writings LAM.3.34, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/prisoner/#x3)
- For the LORD hearkeneth unto the needy, and despiseth not His prisoners. (Writings PSA.69.34, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/prisoner/#x4)
- There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. (Writings JOB.3.18, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/prisoner/#x5)

### Note

Countable. Related words: «prison» (the building), «jail» (US «jail», UK also «gaol» — old spelling), «imprison». A «prisoner» is not always a criminal: prisoners of war are soldiers who were captured.

## On Mova

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