v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Confined p. pr. & vb. n. Confining. ] [ F. confiner to border upon, LL. confinare to set bounds to; con- + finis boundary, end. See Final, Finish. ] To restrain within limits; to restrict; to limit; to bound; to shut up; to inclose; to keep close. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now let not nature's hand
Keep the wild flood confined! let order die! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and the slavery of rhyme. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be confined, to be in childbed.

Syn. -- To bound; limit; restrain; imprison; immure; inclose; circumscribe; restrict. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To have a common boundary; to border; to lie contiguous; to touch; -- followed by on or with. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Where your gloomy bounds
Confine with heaven. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bewixt heaven and earth and skies there stands a place.
Confining on all three. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Common boundary; border; limit; -- used chiefly in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

Events that came to pass within the confines of Judea. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

And now in little space
The confines met of empyrean heaven,
And of this world. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

On the confines of the city and the Temple. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Apartment; place of restraint; prison. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Confines, wards, and dungeons. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The extravagant and erring spirit hies
To his confine. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having movement restricted to within a certain area; -- usually a building. Opposite of unconfined. [ Narrower terms: claustrophobic; close, confining; homebound, housebound, shut-in; in childbed(prenominal); pent, shut up(predicate); snowbound; weather-bound; stormbound, storm-bound ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. deprived of liberty; especially placed under arrest or restraint. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. having movement restricted to within an enclosed outdoor area; -- of animals.
Syn. -- fenced in, penned. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. (Med.) not invading healthy tissue. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

5. held prisoner.
Syn. -- captive, imprisoned, jailed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

6. having movement or progress restricted to a certain area; as, an outbreak of the plague confined to one quarter of the city; wildfires confined to within the canyon. [ PJC ]

a. Without limitation or end; boundless. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 within doors by sickness, esp. that caused by childbirth; lying-in. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, limits or restrains. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who lives on confines, or near the border of a country; a borderer; a near neighbor. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Happy confiners you of other lands,
That shift your soil, and oft 'scape tyrants' hands. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]