From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconfinescon‧fines /ˈkɒnfaɪnz $ ˈkɑːn-/ noun [plural] AREAlimits or borderswithin/beyond the confines of something within the confines of the prison
Examples from the Corpus
confines• Sea Gladiator Faith in her restored form inside the somewhat cramped confines of the Museum.• She felt trapped by the narrow confines of the convent.• Rock fall and trampling in the narrow confines of a cave are two major factors.• The noise was deafening in the small confines of the workshop.• Hypothetical thinking goes beyond the confines of everyday experience.• Sometimes, when the clouds were stretched more thinly, the confines of their world extended.• But, fortunately, interviewers had difficulty restricting employees to the confines of the standard interview questions.• We must operate within the confines of the law.• Within the confines of the steel hull the interference was less.• These two processes are continuous throughout the vast confines of the Universe.within/beyond the confines of something• Nevertheless, Blake's achievement in producing digestible theory and illuminating analyses within the confines of such a short book is considerable.• All the basic lessons should now have been mastered, at least within the confines of a garden.• Berni lives within the confines of a tiny hand-held video game that comes on a key chain.• Although sofas speak of home, they have moved beyond the confines of our living rooms.• At large, Billy the Kid moved beyond the confines of the feud to more general shootings and stock thefts.• They are men who will have committed an offence within the confines of their family and community.• The world beyond the confines of the car was silent but no longer still.Origin confines (1400-1500) French confins, from Latin confine “border”, from com- ( → COM-) + finis “end” 