con‧fine W3 AC / kənfaɪn / 动词 [及物动词]

1 limit to keep someone or something within the limits of a particular activity or subject 同义词 restrict

confine 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 place to keep someone in a place that they cannot leave, such as a prison

confine 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 something spreading to stop something bad from spreading to another place

confine something to something

Firefighters managed to confine the fire to the living room.

4 stay in one place [通常被动态] if you are confined to a place, you have to stay in that place, especially because you are ill :

Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair .

She’s confined to bed with flu.