english
1
general::
noun
convict:
He was a prisoner for four years.
Simple Definitions
2
general::
noun ADJ. virtual Without a wheelchair, she is a virtual prisoner in her own home. | political | life, life-sentence, long-term | short-term | remand | condemned, convicted, sentenced | escaped | model He was a model prisoner, and was released after serving only half of his five-year sentence. VERB + PRISONER capture, take They had captured over 100 prisoners. Many soldiers were taken prisoner. | hold, keep They were kept prisoner for eight months in a tiny flat. | free, release PHRASES a prisoner of conscience The former prisoner of conscience was elected president of the new democracy. | a prisoner of war
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
3
general::
prisoner
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + prisoner
a remand prisoner
British English (= one who is waiting for their trial )
• A prison governor is refusing to accept any more remand prisoners.
a condemned prisoner
(= one who is going to be punished by being killed )
• There is an appeal process for condemned prisoners.
a political prisoner
(= one who is in prison because of their political opinions )
• They demanded that the military government free all political prisoners.
an escaped prisoner
• Soldiers arrived, looking for escaped prisoners.
verbs
release/free a prisoner
• Hundreds of prisoners were released.
transnet.ir
4
general::
prisoner
someone who is kept in a prison as a punishment for a crime, or while they are waiting for their trial:
• Prisoners may be locked in their cells for twenty-two hours a day. • a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder
convict
especially written someone who has been found guilty of a crime and sent to a prison. Convict is used especially about someone who is sent to prison for a long time. It is more commonly used in historical descriptions, or in the phrase an escaped convict:
• The convicts were sent from England to Australia. • Police were hunting for an escaped convict. • Low-risk convicts help to fight forest fires and clean up public lands.
inmate
someone who is kept in a prison or a mental hospital:
• Some inmates are allowed to have special privileges. • He was described by a fellow inmate as a quiet man.
captive
especially literary someone who is kept somewhere and not allowed to go free, especially in a war or fighting. Captive is a rather formal word which is used especially in literature:
• Their objective was to disarm the enemy and release the captives. • She was held captive (= kept as a prisoner ) in the jungle for over three years.
prisoner of war
a soldier, member of the navy etc who is caught by the enemy during a war and kept in the enemy’s country:
• My grandad was a prisoner of war in Germany. • They agreed to release two Iranian prisoners of war.
hostage
someone who is kept somewhere as a prisoner, in order to force people to agree to do something, for example in order to get money or to achive a political aim:
• Diplomats are continuing their efforts to secure the release of the hostages. • The US hostages were held in Tehran for over a year.
detainee/internee
someone who is kept in a prison, usually because of their political views and often without a trial:
• In some cases, political detainees have been beaten or mistreated. • 23,531 people passed through the camps between 1944 and 1962, including 14,647 political internees. • the detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Longman-Thesaurus