noun
- the act of confining.
- the state of being confined.
- the lying-in of a woman in childbed; accouchement; childbirth.
- Military. incarceration in a guardhouse or prison while awaiting trial or as a punishment (distinguished from arrest).
noun
- the act of confining or the state of being confined
- the period from the onset of labour to the birth of a child
- physics another name for containment (def. 3)
n.1590s, from French confinement (16c.; the Old French word was confinacion), from confiner (see confine). As a euphemism for “childbed” it dates from 1774 (the Middle English expression was Our Lady’s bands). n.
- The act of restricting or the state of being restricted in movement.
- Lying-in.