5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Prison  \Pris"on\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Prisoned};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Prisoning}.] 
  1.  To  imprison;  to  shut  up  in  or  as  in  a  prison;  to 
  confine;  to  restrain  from  liberty. 
 
  The  prisoned  eagle  dies  for  rage.  --Sir  W. 
  Scott. 
 
  His  true  respect  will  prison  false  desire.  --Shak. 
 
  2.  To  bind  (together);  to  enchain.  [Obs.] 
 
  Sir  William  Crispyn  with  the  duke  was  led  Together 
  prisoned.  --Robert  of 
  Brunne 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Prison  \Pris"on\  (?;  277),  n.  [F.,  fr  L.  prehensio,  prensio  a 
  seizing,  arresting,  fr  prehendre  prendere,  to  lay  hold  of 
  to  seize.  See  {Prehensile},  and  cf  {Prize},  n., 
  {Misprision}.] 
  1.  A  place  where  persons  are  confined,  or  restrained  of 
  personal  liberty;  hence  a  place  or  state  o?  confinement, 
  restraint,  or  safe  custody. 
 
  Bring  my  soul  out  of  prison,  that  I  may  praise  thy 
  name  --Ps.  cxlii 
  7. 
 
  The  tyrant  [AE]olus,  .  .  .  With  power  imperial, 
  curbs  the  struggling  winds,  And  sounding  tempests  in 
  dark  prisons  binds.  --Dryden. 
 
  2.  Specifically,  a  building  for  the  safe  custody  or 
  confinement  of  criminals  and  others  committed  by  lawful 
  authority. 
 
  {Prison  bars},  or  {Prison  base}.  See  {Base},  n.,  24. 
 
  {Prison  breach}.  (Law)  See  Note  under  3d  {Escape},  n.,  4. 
 
  {Prison  house},  a  prison.  --Shak. 
 
  {Prison  ship}  (Naut.),  a  ship  fitted  up  for  the  confinement 
  of  prisoners. 
 
  {Prison  van},  a  carriage  in  which  prisoners  are  conveyed  to 
  and  from  prison. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  prison 
  n  1:  a  building  where  persons  are  confined  while  on  trial  or  for 
  punishment  [syn:  {prison  house}] 
  2:  a  prisonlike  situation;  a  place  of  seeming  confinement  [syn: 
  {prison  house}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Prison 
  The  first  occasion  on  which  we  read  of  a  prison  is  in  the 
  history  of  Joseph  in  Egypt.  Then  Potiphar,  "Joseph's  master, 
  took  him  and  put  him  into  the  prison,  a  place  where  the  king's 
  prisoners  were  bound"  (Gen.  39:20-23).  The  Heb.  word  here  used 
  (sohar)  means  properly  a  round  tower  or  fortress.  It  seems  to 
  have  been  a  part  of  Potiphar's  house,  a  place  in  which  state 
  prisoners  were  kept. 
 
  The  Mosaic  law  made  no  provision  for  imprisonment  as  a 
  punishment.  In  the  wilderness  two  persons  were  "put  in  ward" 
  (Lev.  24:12;  Num.  15:34),  but  it  was  only  till  the  mind  of  God 
  concerning  them  should  be  ascertained.  Prisons  and  prisoners  are 
  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Psalms  (69:33;  79:11;  142:7).  Samson 
  was  confined  in  a  Philistine  prison  (Judg.  16:21,  25).  In  the 
  subsequent  history  of  Israel  frequent  references  are  made  to 
  prisons  (1  Kings  22:27;  2  Kings  17:4;  25:27,  29;  2  Chr.  16:10; 
  Isa.  42:7;  Jer.  32:2).  Prisons  seem  to  have  been  common  in  New 
  Testament  times  (Matt.  11:2;  25:36,  43).  The  apostles  were  put 
  into  the  "common  prison"  at  the  instance  of  the  Jewish  council 
  (Acts  5:18,  23;  8:3);  and  at  Philippi  Paul  and  Silas  were  thrust 
  into  the  "inner  prison"  (16:24;  comp.  4:3;  12:4,  5). 
 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  PRISON,  n.  A  place  of  punishments  and  rewards.  The  poet  assures  us 
  that  -- 
 
  "Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make," 
 
  but  a  combination  of  the  stone  wall,  the  political  parasite  and  the 
  moral  instructor  is  no  garden  of  sweets. 
 
 

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