as in imprisoning
to put in or as if in prison
the state incarcerated over 1900 people last year
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Recent Examples of incarcerating
Officials reinforced stay-at-home orders by erecting fences around some apartment buildings, essentially incarcerating occupants.
—
Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2026
In 1942, as the government was forcibly relocating and incarcerating Japanese Americans on the West Coast, a nativist group hoped to revoke the citizenship of Japanese Americans born in the United States.
—Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 28 Mar. 2026
The governor’s bill would require any state agency charged with incarcerating people to follow the standards outlined in the federal law.
—Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 20 Feb. 2026
Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2026
In 1942, as the government was forcibly relocating and incarcerating Japanese Americans on the West Coast, a nativist group hoped to revoke the citizenship of Japanese Americans born in the United States.
—Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 28 Mar. 2026
The governor’s bill would require any state agency charged with incarcerating people to follow the standards outlined in the federal law.
—Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incarcerating
Verb
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Meanwhile, the Iranian regime’s very recent and brutal crackdown on its own people — imprisoning and killing thousands of citizens for dissent — has not been met with the same outrage by these voices.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
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Noem seemed to relish cruelty, and treated her job like a costume party, constantly mugging for cameras with guns and faux toughness as if the dismantling of lives and imprisoning even children was a game.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The city has said that the hope is to provide safer jailing of people in custody, in smaller population numbers, closer to their communities.—
Amethyst Martinez,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
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The government shut off the internet, and the military and police cracked down, eventually extinguishing the protests and jailing more than 1,400.—
Gisela Salim-Peyer,
The Atlantic,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Those formative years interning at the DA’s office sent her on a journey into Big Law, then multimillion-dollar legal entrepreneurship.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
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Arellano joined the brand after interning and working his way into a full-time role, learning production before moving into design.—
J.M. Banks
March 21,
Kansas City Star,
21 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incarcerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incarcerating. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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