confinement

confinement
   the period of childbirth
   Literally, no more than be cooped up, as in prison. Standard English:
    The women continue working down to the day of their confinement. (Mayhew, 1851)
   Thus to be confined, which might be taken as being unable to leave a sickroom, is to be giving birth, this usage having superseded the 19th-century meaning, constipated.

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • confinement — [ kɔ̃finmɑ̃ ] n. m. • 1481; de confiner 1 ♦ Action de confiner. ♢ Spécialt, méd. Interdiction à un malade de quitter la chambre. ⇒ quarantaine. 2 ♦ Phys. Limitation du volume accessible à des particules, dans une installation nucléaire. Spécialt… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Confinement — may refer to either Civil confinement for psychiatric patients Color confinement, the physical principle explaining the non observation of color charged particles like free quarks Solitary confinement, a strict form of imprisonment The… …   Wikipedia

  • Confinement — Con*fine ment, n. 1. Restraint within limits; imprisonment; any restraint of liberty; seclusion. [1913 Webster] The mind hates restraint, and is apt to fancy itself under confinement when the sight is pent up. Addison. [1913 Webster] 2. Restraint …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • confinement — con·fine·ment n 1: the act of confining 2: the state of being confined Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. confinement …   Law dictionary

  • confinement — 1590s, from Fr. confinement (16c.; the O.Fr. word was confinacion), from confiner (see CONFINE (Cf. confine)). As a euphemism for childbed it dates from 1774 (the M.E. expression was Our Lady s bands) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Confinement —   [kən faɪnmənt, englisch »Einschließung«] das, s, in der Elementarteilchenphysik die Tatsache, dass es bisher nicht gelungen ist, die vermutlichen Grundbausteine der Kernmaterie, die Quarks, als isolierte freie Teilchen aufzufinden, sondern nur… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • confinement — [n1] imprisonment; restriction bonds, bounding, bounds, check, circumscription, coercion, constrainment, constraint, control, cramp, curb, custody, delimitation, detention, immuration, incarceration, internment, jail, keeping, limitation,… …   New thesaurus

  • confinement — [kən fīn′mənt] n. a confining or being confined; specif., a) imprisonment b) limitation; restriction; restraint c) childbirth; lying in …   English World dictionary

  • confinement — n. imprisonment being confined 1) solitary confinement (they put him into solitary confinement) 2) confinement to (confinement to quarters) 3) in confinement (in solitary confinement) lying in (obsol.) 4) in confinement (before the birth of a… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • Confinement — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Sur les autres projets Wikimedia : « Confinement », sur le Wiktionnaire (dictionnaire universel) Confinement peut faire référence à :… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • confinement — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ close ▪ The animals are kept in close confinement. ▪ solitary ▪ home (AmE) ▪ He was sentenced to six months of home confinement …   Collocations dictionary

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