prison

«prison» in Mova's school dictionary: A building where people who have broken the law are kept… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a prison, prisons; also uncountable: in prison)

meaning for a pupil

1) A building where people who have broken the law are kept as a punishment. tree →

2) A place or situation where someone feels trapped. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories, news and social studies: criminals are sent to prison. In UK and Ireland also "jail" or "gaol"; in the USA "jail" is for short stays and "prison" for long ones. Phrases: go to prison, in prison, prison officer, prison cell.

examples

• The thief was sent to prison for two years. tree →
• The castle was once used as a prison. tree →
• A prison officer guards the cells. tree →
• He escaped from prison in the story. tree →
• Being stuck indoors all summer felt like a prison. tree →
• She visited her uncle in prison. tree →
• Here, guards! away with him to the prison. tree →

note

"In prison" and "go to prison" without "the" when you mean being punished; "the prison" for the building. A person in prison is a prisoner. Synonyms: jail, gaol (UK old spelling), (slang) nick, slammer.

In the corpora

• Alice says the Cat belongs to the Duchess, so they fetch the Duchess from prison.
• Toad boasts to himself: «My enemies shut me up in prison...
• I am the Toad, the motor-car snatcher, the prison-breaker, the Toad who always escapes!»
• Toad boasts: «Been in prison—got out of it, of course!
• I've only broken out of the strongest prison in England, that's all!»

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «prison» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.