1. The act of containing; keeping something from spreading
   "the containment of the AIDS epidemic"; "the containment of the rebellion"
    
2. A policy of creating strategic alliances in order to check the expansion of a hostile power, ideology or to force it to negotiate peacefully
   "containment of communist expansion was a central principle of United States' foreign policy from 1947 to the 1975"
    
3. (physics) a system designed to prevent the accidental release of radioactive material from a reactor
   "The nuclear power plant's containment system was rigorously tested for safety"

Derived forms: containments

Type of: policy, restraint, system

Encyclopedia: Containment