Prisoner — may refer to one of the following: * A person incarcerated in a prison or jail or similar facility * Prisoner of war, a soldier in wartime, held as by an enemy * Political prisoner, someone held in prison for their ideology * A person forcibly… … Wikipedia
Prisoner — Pris on*er, n. [F. prisonnier.] 1. One who is confined in a prison. Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster] 2. A person under arrest, or in custody, whether in prison or not; a person held in involuntary restraint; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
prisoner — 14c., from Fr. prisonnier (12c.), from prisoun (see PRISON (Cf. prison)). Captives taken in war were called prisoners since mid 14c.; phrase prisoner of war dates from 1670s (see also POW (Cf. POW)). Prisoner s dilemma attested from 1957 … Etymology dictionary
prisoner — prisoner, captive both denote one who is deprived of his liberty. Prisoner is the general term, applicable to anyone so deprived, but it is frequently used in a more specific sense, and applied to one who is confined to a prison or held under… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
prisoner — [priz′nər, priz′ən ər] n. [ME < OFr prisonier] 1. a person confined in prison, as for some crime 2. a person held in custody 3. a person captured or held captive: often in metaphorical usage [a prisoner of love] … English World dictionary
prisoner — [n] person jailed for crime; person kept against his or her will captive, chain gang member, con, convict, culprit, detainee, hostage, internee, jailbird*, lag*, lifer*, loser*, tough*, yardbird*; concept 412 … New thesaurus
prisoner — ► NOUN 1) a person legally committed to prison. 2) a person captured and kept confined. 3) a person trapped by circumstances. ● take no prisoners Cf. ↑take no prisoners … English terms dictionary
prisoner — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ virtual ▪ Without a wheelchair, she is a virtual prisoner in her own home. ▪ political ▪ life (esp. BrE), long term (BrE) ▪ … Collocations dictionary
prisoner — n. 1 a person kept in prison. 2 (in full prisoner at the bar) a person in custody on a criminal charge and on trial. 3 a person or thing confined by illness, another s grasp, etc. 4 (in full prisoner of war) a person who has been captured in war … Useful english dictionary
prisoner */*/*/ — UK [ˈprɪz(ə)nə(r)] / US [ˈprɪz(ə)nər] noun [countable] Word forms prisoner : singular prisoner plural prisoners 1) a) someone who is in prison as punishment for a crime Security staff will escort the prisoners to the scene of the crime. b)… … English dictionary
