prisoner
4 ENTRIES FOUND:
plural
prisoners
plural
prisoners
Britannica Dictionary definition of PRISONER
[count]
1
:
a person who is kept in a prison
-
The prisoners [=inmates] have two hours of exercise per day.
-
a political prisoner [=a person put in prison because of his or her political beliefs]
2
:
a person who has been captured and is being kept somewhere
— sometimes used figuratively
-
He was captured by rebel forces and kept as their prisoner for several months before they set him free.
-
They took him prisoner. = He was taken prisoner. [=they captured him and made him their prisoner]
-
The families were held/kept prisoner for four days.
-
She's a prisoner of her fears. [=she is controlled by her fears]
take no prisoners
:
to deal with the people you are competing with or trying to defeat in a very harsh way without mercy
—
see also take-no-prisoners
-
He takes no prisoners when it comes to running the business.
