From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconfinecon‧fine /kənˈfaɪn/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb [transitive] 1 LIMITlimitLIMIT to keep someone or something within the limits of a particular activity or subject SYN restrictconfine something to something The police cadet’s duties were confined to taking statements from the crowd. We confined our study to ten cases.confine yourself to (doing) something Owen did not confine himself to writing only one type of poem.2 KEEP somebody IN A PLACEkeep somebody in a placeKEEP somebody IN A PLACE to keep someone in a place that they cannot leave, such as a prisonconfine somebody to something Any soldier who leaves his post will be confined to barracks (=made to stay in the barracks).be confined in something He was allegedly confined in a narrow dark room for two months.3 STOP SPREADINGstop something spreadingSPREAD to stop something bad from spreading to another placeconfine something to something Firefighters managed to confine the fire to the living room.4 stay in one placeMKEEP somebody IN A PLACE if you are confined to a place, you have to stay in that place, especially because you are illbe confined to something Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair. She’s confined to bed with flu.Grammar Confine is usually passive in this meaning.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
confine• Lord did not confine his ventures to cricket.• The boy had been confined in a dark narrow room from early childhood by his parents.• Brett was eventually confined in a psychiatric hospital, where he committed suicide.• The report confines itself to known and verifiable facts.• The second assumption is also valid if we confine the analysis to a reasonable range of operations.• The judge has confined the jury to their hotel until after the verdict.• Rebel troops have confined their attacks mainly to the southern part of the country.• Active volcanism at any one time is normally confined to a limited number of centres within a particular cluster.• All the illegal immigrants were confined to a small island in the harbour.• It has been confined to an interpretation of the specific regulations.• While they ate, the conversation was confined to business.• Significantly, this new prosperity is not confined to the business elite or even the emerging middle class.• The occurrence of violent confrontations on campuses and on the streets was no longer primarily confined to the summer months.• Both amphibians and reptiles are paralyzed by cold, and are therefore confined to the temperate zones and tropics.confine yourself to (doing) something• It is for this reason that I have confined myself to novels concerned with the period before 1914.• The military survey of 1522, in theory at least, confined itself to ownership strictly defined.• My brilliant stroke has been to confine myself to physical things, to the immediate and tangible.• We must again remember to search for the constitution amongst the realities, and not confine ourselves to pretty normative structures.• The statute confines itself to prohibiting the carriage of certain goods in interstate or foreign commerce.• They confine themselves To right-angled triangles.• He must have confined himself to the shade like an invalid.• Lexicographers will normally confine themselves to working on about 1000 of these.be confined in something• Stevenson was arrested for murder and confined in a hospital for psychiatric tests.• In 1678 he was confined in a madhouse in Finsbury.• At the touch of a button a huge gate opens and I am confined in a small area between fences.• The theory originates from experiments with rats in which the animals were confined in a small space and given electric shocks.• He held back at first, but only until she was confined in the hospital at Leyden.• After his arrest he was confined in the Tower of London, where, incidentally, his grandfather had been born.confined to bed• I had the flu and was confined to bed.• Perhaps Mrs Longhill had already written during the days Ruth had been confined to bed.• Throughout the crisis of 1931, however, he was confined to bed after an operation.• He suspected she could have wished for nothing better than to have him confined to bed and reliant on her care.• Or at least ... Are you really totally confined to bed, Faye?• The following year, in Paris, Du Camp was ill, and confined to bed in his apartment.• Only replacement back Kenny Logan was an absentee, confined to bed suffering from the 24-hour flu bug.Origin confine (1500-1600) French confiner, from Latin confinis; → CONFINES 