House Arrest Definition & Meaning

American

British

Cultural

Etymology

Examples

Synonyms house arrest American

noun

1. confinement of an arrested person to their residence or to a public place, such as a hospital, instead of in a jail.

   He was under house arrest until the day of his trial.

house arrest British

noun

1. confinement to one's own home

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 house arrest Cultural

1. Forcible detention in one's house rather than in a prison. House arrest is used by some nations as a way to silence political dissent without the elaborate trials and criminal proceedings that would bring bad publicity.

Etymology

Origin of house arrest

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Guanipa was initially released from prison earlier this month, but was then rearrested and placed under house arrest for allegedly breaching the terms of his release.

From BBC

Also present at one of the meetings was another Chinese citizen who was under house arrest while being investigated for alleged links to an illegal timber network.

From BBC

On Tuesday Mr. Guanipa’s son said his father had been returned to his home in Maracaibo in the state of Zulia, and placed under house arrest.

From The Wall Street Journal

Khatib was released from house arrest in mid-January and is awaiting the final charge.

From Barron's

He is the son of Mehdi Karroubi, who stood as a reformist presidential candidate in a disputed election in 2009 that sparked mass protests and was subsequently held under house arrest for many years.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.