Definition

1. Verb:
   • To imprison: To legally confine someone in a prison or jail as a form of punishment or while awaiting trial.
   • To jail / to incarcerate: To put and hold someone in a place of detention.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Chính quyền đã cầm tù những kẻ phản loạn. (The authorities imprisoned the rebels.)
  • Hắn bị cầm tù vì tội giết người. (He was jailed for murder.)
  • Họ bị cầm tù mà không có xét xử. (They were imprisoned without a trial.)

Advanced Usage

• The verb "cầm tù" often carries a formal or legal connotation and is commonly used in official, journalistic, or literary contexts to describe the act of state-sanctioned confinement.

Variants and Related Words

• Bỏ tù (v): To put in prison. This is a more common, colloquial synonym.
  • Tòa án quyết định bỏ tù bị cáo. (The court decided to put the defendant in prison.)
• Giam giữ (v): To detain, to hold in custody. This can refer to temporary detention, not necessarily a long-term prison sentence.
  • Cảnh sát được phép giam giữ nghi phạm 48 giờ. (The police are allowed to detain a suspect for 48 hours.)
• Giam cầm (v): To hold captive, to confine. This word can be used more broadly, including non-legal contexts like captivity.
  • Con chim bị giam cầm trong lồng. (The bird is confined in a cage.)

Synonyms

• Imprison: To put or keep someone in prison.
• Incarcerate: A formal term meaning to confine in a prison or jail.
• Jail: To put into a jail.
• Lock up: An informal phrase meaning to put someone in prison.

Related Idioms

• Cầm tù thể xác / tinh thần: To imprison physically / mentally.
  • Căn bệnh đã cầm tù thể xác anh ta. (The illness imprisoned his body.)
  • Những ký ức đau buồn cầm tù tinh thần cô ấy. (The painful memories imprisoned her mind.)

1. Keep in prison, imprison, jail