1. The state of being confined
   "he was held in confinement"
    
2. The act of restraining of a person's liberty by confining them
   "The suspect's confinement in jail"
    
3. The act of keeping something within specified bounds (by force if necessary)
   "the confinement of the infection to a focal area";
   - restriction
    
4. Concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child
   "she was in confinement for six hours";
   - parturiency, labor [US], labour [Brit, Cdn], lying-in, travail [literary], childbed [archaic]

Derived forms: confinements

Type of: birth, birthing, giving birth, parturition, restraint, subjection, subjugation

Part of: gestation, gravidation [archaic], gravidity [technical], maternity, pregnancy

Encyclopedia: Confinement