incarcerate

Compared meaning: to put someone in prison (verb).

比较义项：把某人关进监狱、监禁（动词）。

• jail

  Informal, everyday word for putting someone in prison, often for a short time or a minor offense; common in spoken English and casual news, less formal than imprison or incarcerate.

  非正式、日常用词，指把某人关进监狱，常用于刑期较短或罪行较轻的情况；常见于口语和非正式新闻报道，正式程度低于 imprison 和 incarcerate。

  Police jailed the drunk driver overnight after his third offense.

  警方在这名醉酒司机第三次违规后把他关押了一夜。

• imprison

  Standard formal verb used in news and legal writing for putting someone in prison for a period of time, often for serious crimes; more formal than jail but less technical than incarcerate.

  标准的正式动词，常用于新闻和法律文本，指将某人关押一段时间，常涉及较严重的罪行；比 jail 更正式，但技术性低于 incarcerate。

  The government imprisoned hundreds of protesters without trial.

  政府未经审判就监禁了数百名抗议者。

• incarcerate 本词

  Very formal, legal or institutional word, common in American legal, academic and statistical writing about the prison system; heavier and more technical than jail or imprison.

  非常正式的法律或机构用词，常见于美式法律、学术及关于监狱制度的统计文本；比 jail 或 imprison 更沉重、更具专业色彩。

  This country incarcerates more people per capita than any other in the world.

  这个国家的人均监禁率高于世界上任何其他国家。

Jail, imprison, and incarcerate mean putting someone in prison, but formality differs. Jail is informal, for a short time or minor crime. Imprison is standard, formal, for serious crimes. Incarcerate is most formal, used in American legal writing. This excludes imprison meaning to limit something.

这三个词都表示“把某人关进监狱”，但正式程度和使用场合不同：jail 最口语化、最非正式，imprison 是标准的正式用词，incarcerate 最为正式、专业，常见于法律和统计语境。这里不比较 imprison 的另一个义项“严格限制”。