confine

Word family

Related topics: Medicine

con·fine /kənˈfaɪn/ W3 AWL verb [transitiveT]

1 LIMITlimit 限制LIMIT to keep someone or something within the limits of a particular activity or subject 把…局限于；把…限制于 SYN restrict

confine something to something

The police cadet’s duties were confined to taking statements from the crowd.

这位警校生的任务只是记录那群人的口供。

We confined our study to ten cases.

我们把研究限定在十个案例以内。

confine yourself to (doing) something

Owen did not confine himself to writing only one type of poem.

欧文没有让自己局限于只写一种类型的诗。

2 KEEP somebody IN A PLACEkeep SB in a place 把某人监禁在某处KEEP somebody IN A PLACE to keep someone in a place that they cannot leave, such as a prison 监禁，禁闭

confine somebody to something

Any soldier who leaves his post will be confined to barracks (=made to stay in the barracks).

任何擅离职守的士兵都要受到在营房里关禁闭的处罚。

be confined in something

He was allegedly confined in a narrow dark room for two months.

据说他在一个既狭窄又黑暗的房间里被监禁了两个月。

3 STOP SPREADINGstop STH spreading 制止某事扩散SPREAD to stop something bad from spreading to another place 限制，阻止

confine something to something

Firefighters managed to confine the fire to the living room.

消防队员设法把火势控制在起居室内。

4 stay in one place 留在一处MKEEP somebody IN A PLACE if you are confined to a place, you have to stay in that place, especially because you are ill 限制，使离不开〔尤因生病〕

be confined to something

Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair.

沃恩离不开轮椅。

She’s confined to bed with flu.

她因流感卧病在床。

n Grammar

Confine is usually passive in this meaning.

Examples from the Corpus

confine• Lord did not confine his ventures to cricket.• The boy had been confined in a dark narrow room from early childhood by his parents.• Brett was eventually confined in a psychiatric hospital, where he committed suicide.• The report confines itself to known and verifiable facts.• The second assumption is also valid if we confine the analysis to a reasonable range of operations.• The judge has confined the jury to their hotel until after the verdict.• Rebel troops have confined their attacks mainly to the southern part of the country.• Active volcanism at any one time is normally confined to a limited number of centres within a particular cluster.• All the illegal immigrants were confined to a small island in the harbour.• It has been confined to an interpretation of the specific regulations.• While they ate, the conversation was confined to business.• Significantly, this new prosperity is not confined to the business elite or even the emerging middle class.• The occurrence of violent confrontations on campuses and on the streets was no longer primarily confined to the summer months.• Both amphibians and reptiles are paralyzed by cold, and are therefore confined to the temperate zones and tropics.

confine yourself to (doing) something• It is for this reason that I have confined myself to novels concerned with the period before 1914.• The military survey of 1522, in theory at least, confined itself to ownership strictly defined.• My brilliant stroke has been to confine myself to physical things, to the immediate and tangible.• We must again remember to search for the constitution amongst the realities, and not confine ourselves to pretty normative structures.• The statute confines itself to prohibiting the carriage of certain goods in interstate or foreign commerce.• They confine themselves To right-angled triangles.• He must have confined himself to the shade like an invalid.• Lexicographers will normally confine themselves to working on about 1000 of these.

be confined in something• Stevenson was arrested for murder and confined in a hospital for psychiatric tests.• In 1678 he was confined in a madhouse in Finsbury.• At the touch of a button a huge gate opens and I am confined in a small area between fences.• The theory originates from experiments with rats in which the animals were confined in a small space and given electric shocks.• He held back at first, but only until she was confined in the hospital at Leyden.• After his arrest he was confined in the Tower of London, where, incidentally, his grandfather had been born.

confined to bed• I had the flu and was confined to bed.• Perhaps Mrs Longhill had already written during the days Ruth had been confined to bed.• Throughout the crisis of 1931, however, he was confined to bed after an operation.• He suspected she could have wished for nothing better than to have him confined to bed and reliant on her care.• Or at least ... Are you really totally confined to bed, Faye?• The following year, in Paris, Du Camp was ill, and confined to bed in his apartment.• Only replacement back Kenny Logan was an absentee, confined to bed suffering from the 24-hour flu bug.

Origin confine

(1500-1600) French confiner, from Latin confinis; → CONFINES

con·fine verb →n GRAMMAR1

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