Meaning & use
confinement systems
Last updated
Meanings
nounpluraltechnical
Ways of housing farm animals in small individual pens or crates that greatly limit their movement.
Grammar: Usually plural because it refers to a category of housing methods; the singular 'confinement system' names one such method.
Patterns
- confinement systems for something
- use confinement systems
- ban confinement systems
Animal-welfare groups want confinement systems for pigs to be phased out.
The report compared confinement systems with free-range housing on small farms.
nounplural
Any arrangement that keeps people or animals inside a closed, restricted space.
Grammar: Used literally for prisons, hospitals or shelters; less common than the farming sense.
Patterns
- confinement systems in a place
- design confinement systems
The old hospital relied on confinement systems that kept patients indoors all day.
Engineers studied confinement systems used in high-security buildings.
Word forms
| singular | confinement system |
|---|
Common combinations
- intensive confinement systems
- Intensive confinement systems keep thousands of birds in one shed.
- animal confinement systems
- Several states have passed rules on animal confinement systems.
- phase out confinement systems
- The chain promised to phase out confinement systems in its supply chain.
- a ban on confinement systems
- Farmers debated a ban on confinement systems for veal calves.
- criticize confinement systems
- Vets criticized confinement systems that prevent animals from turning around.
Synonyms and how they differ
- battery cages
- Names one specific type of confinement housing for hens, whereas 'confinement systems' is the broader category.
- feedlots
- Refers to crowded outdoor pens for cattle; it is a kind of confinement system but not usually called one.
Opposites
Word family
- confine verb
- to keep someone or something inside a limited area
- confinement noun
- the state of being kept in a closed space
- confined adjective
- kept within a small space, or (of a space) very small
Commonly confused: confinement systems or containment systems?
confinement systems vs containment systems
'Containment' is about stopping something from spreading (e.g. fire or radiation), not about housing animals in small spaces.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'confinement systems' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Confinement systems' are housing methods that restrict an animal's movement, so the sentence about sows fits. Option 0 contradicts the meaning, and options 2 and 3 use the phrase for unrelated ideas.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “confinement systems”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.