confined
confined — 形容詞
1. describing a space that is too small to move around in comfortably, with walls o
狹小封閉的
空間狹窄、四面有牆壁或邊界的
describing a space that is too small to move around in comfortably, with walls or barriers close on every side.
Lucas felt anxious working all day inside the confined cockpit of the submarine.
Lucas 整天在潛水艇狹小封閉的駕駛艙裡工作，感到焦慮不安。
attributive: confined + noun (cockpit, space, area)
The factory now bans welding inside any confined space without two safety supervisors present.
工廠現在禁止在沒有兩名安全監督員在場的情況下，於任何狹小封閉空間進行焊接。
fixed phrase: 'confined space' as a safety-regulations term
Three rescue workers crawled into the confined tunnel to reach the trapped miners.
三名救援人員爬進狹窄封閉的隧道，去找受困的礦工。
Living for a month in such a confined cabin made Gabriela long for open fields.
在那麼狹小封閉的船艙裡住一個月，讓 Gabriela 想念開闊的田野。
The cat refused to sleep in the confined corner behind the washing machine.
那隻貓不願意在洗衣機後面那個狹小封閉的角落睡覺。
文法句型
a confined + noun
in a confined space
用法筆記
Most often appears as 'confined space' (a fixed phrase used in workplace safety rules) or with words for small enclosed places: room, cabin, tunnel, cell, cockpit.
常見錯誤
2. kept inside a place such as a prison, hospital, or room, and not allowed or able
受困的
被關在某處不能離開的
kept inside a place such as a prison, hospital, or room, and not allowed or able to go outside.
After the operation, Élise was confined to the hospital bed for ten days.
手術後，Élise 被困在病床上整整十天。
passive pattern: be confined to + place
Two protesters remained confined in a small police cell for over a week.
兩名抗議者被監禁在一間小型警察拘留室裡超過一個星期。
Snow leopards bred in zoos are confined animals that rarely thrive in the wild.
動物園裡圈養的雪豹是受困的動物，野放後很少能存活。
Christopher hated feeling confined whenever the airport snowstorm shut every gate.
每次機場大雪封閉所有登機門時，Christopher 都討厭那種被困住的感覺。
The injured eagle was confined to a wire enclosure until it could fly again.
那隻受傷的老鷹被關在鐵絲圍欄裡，直到牠能再次飛行為止。
- captive
stronger sense of being taken and held against one's will
- imprisoned
specifically inside a prison or formal place of detention
- shut in
informal; everyday situations like illness or weather
文法句型
confined to + place
be confined + by
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is about a person or animal being held inside, not about the space itself being small. Often passive ('be confined to / in') and frequently followed by a place phrase.
常見錯誤
confined — 動詞
1. to limit something — an activity, a discussion, or a person's role — so that it
限制；約束
把活動或話題限制在特定範圍內
to limit something — an activity, a discussion, or a person's role — so that it stays within certain boundaries, topics, or rules.
Please confine your questions to the new policy and avoid older issues for now.
請把問題限制在新政策上，舊議題暫時先別提。
pattern: confine + object + to + topic
The judge confined the trial to evidence collected before April last year.
法官將審理範圍限制在去年四月之前所蒐集的證據。
Soraya tries to confine her social media use to half an hour after dinner.
Soraya 努力把使用社群媒體的時間限制在晚餐後的半小時內。
Hospital rules confine visiting hours to the afternoon, between two and five.
醫院規定將探病時間限制在下午兩點到五點之間。
The professor asked the students to confine their essays to fewer than a thousand words.
教授要求學生把論文字數限制在一千字以內。
文法句型
confine + something + to + something
be confined to
用法筆記
Subject is usually a rule, policy, person in authority, or the speaker telling someone else to stay within limits. The 'to' phrase is almost always present — without it the sentence feels incomplete.
常見錯誤
2. to keep someone shut inside a building or area against their wishes, often by us
禁閉；關押
強行把人或動物關在某處
to keep someone shut inside a building or area against their wishes, often by using force or strict rules.
Soldiers who broke curfew were confined to barracks for the rest of the week.
違反宵禁的士兵在接下來一週都被禁閉在營房內。
passive military set phrase: be confined to barracks
Guards confined the protesters in a small storeroom near the back gate.
警衛把抗議者關押在後門附近的一間小儲藏室裡。
The dictator confined his rivals to remote islands for years without trial.
那名獨裁者把對手關押在偏遠的島嶼上多年，連審判都沒有。
Veterinary staff confined the bitten dog to a quiet cage to watch for symptoms.
獸醫人員把那隻被咬的狗關在安靜的籠子裡觀察症狀。
The new rules confine students to the dormitories after ten in the evening.
新規定把學生晚上十點後關在宿舍內。
文法句型
confine + somebody + to/in + place
be confined to barracks / quarters
用法筆記
Object is a person or animal; the location is given by 'to' or 'in'. Distinguish from sense 1: here the object is a living being being shut inside a place, not an activity being limited in scope.
常見錯誤
3. to be found only in one place or among one group of people, and not to spread or
侷限於
只出現於特定地區或群體中
to be found only in one place or among one group of people, and not to spread or appear anywhere else.
The rare blue lizard is confined to two small islands off the Indonesian coast.
這種稀有的藍色蜥蜴僅見於印尼海岸外的兩個小島上。
passive only: be confined to + region
For now, the outbreak appears confined to three villages along the river.
目前疫情似乎僅限於沿河的三個村莊。
The dialect Nikhil studied is confined to fishermen on the southern coast.
Nikhil 研究的這種方言僅流行於南部海岸的漁民之間。
This old greeting is now confined to a few elderly villagers.
這個古老的問候語現在僅限於村裡少數幾位年長居民使用。
Tropical malaria was once confined to the rainforest, but warmer weather has spread it.
熱帶瘧疾過去僅限於雨林地區，但氣候變暖已使它擴散。
- restricted to
near-identical; slightly more neutral about cause
- limited to
everyday register; same meaning when describing range
- widespread
found across many places
文法句型
be confined to + place / group
remain confined to
用法筆記
Always passive ('be confined to') — you never write 'X confines to Y'. Subject is typically a species, disease, custom, language, or other thing whose distribution is being described. Distinguish from sense 1 (limiting an activity by choice) and sense 2 (holding a person inside).