1
: a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody
especially
: one on trial or in prison
2
: someone restrained as if in prison
a prisoner of her own conscience
see also take-no-prisoners, take no prisoners
Examples of prisoner in a Sentence
He was captured by rebel forces and kept as their prisoner for several months before they set him free.
The families were held prisoner for four days.
Recent Examples on the Web
He was released by U.S. authorities as part of a high-stakes prisoner swap earlier this month.
—
Sara Salinas, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2024
The prisoner of utmost importance to the Kremlin in the exchange was Vadim Krasikov, who killed a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin in 2019.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2024
Reserve soldiers, civilians, and even a far-right parliamentarian attacked the military police inside the base, incensed that military personnel were detained for their maltreatment of a Palestinian prisoner.
—Ilan Z. Baron, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2024
According to the Associated Press, in 2019, the bureau began photocopying mail coming into prisons instead of delivering the original parcels to prisoners, in an attempt to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics.
—Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prisoner 
Sara Salinas, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2024
The prisoner of utmost importance to the Kremlin in the exchange was Vadim Krasikov, who killed a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin in 2019.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2024
Reserve soldiers, civilians, and even a far-right parliamentarian attacked the military police inside the base, incensed that military personnel were detained for their maltreatment of a Palestinian prisoner.
—Ilan Z. Baron, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2024
According to the Associated Press, in 2019, the bureau began photocopying mail coming into prisons instead of delivering the original parcels to prisoners, in an attempt to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics.
—Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for prisoner
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prisoner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Prisoner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prisoner. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
prisoner
noun
pris·on·er
ˈpriz-nər 
-ᵊn-ər
: a person who has been captured or locked up
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