n
1 (a) person kept in prison, as a punishment or awaiting trial 犯人; 囚犯; 被拘押的刑事被告
*a prison built to hold
500 prisoners 可容纳500名囚犯的监狱
* political prisoners, ie those put in prison because of their political beliefs 政治犯（由于政治信仰而被监禁者）
* Prisoner at the bar, do you plead guilty or not guilty? 接受审讯的刑事被告, 你认罪不认罪?
(b) person, animal, etc that has been captured and is being kept in confinement; captive 被抓起来的人; 被捕获的动物等
*You are our prisoner now and we won't release you until a ransom is paid. 你现已遭我们禁锢, 要到交出赎金以後, 才能放你走.
* He spent two years as the prisoner of rebel soldiers in the mountains. 他被山里的叛军抓走有两年之久.
* (fig 比喻) The wretched man is the prisoner of (ie controlled by) his own greed. 这个坏家伙完全被贪心所支配.
2 (idm 习语) hold/take sbcaptive/prisoner => captive. ,prisoner of `conscienceperson kept in prison because of an act of social or political protest 政治犯（因从事社会或政治反抗活动而被监禁的人）. ,prisoner of `war (abbr 缩写 POW) person (usu a member of the armed forces) captured during a war by the enemy and kept in prison (usu a prison camp) until the end of the war 战俘.

n[C]

someone who is kept in a prison as a legal punishment for a crime or while they are waiting for their trial
→guard, imprison imprison
　Relationships between the staff and the prisoners are good.
　Prisoners here only serve short sentences.
remand prisoner
BrE (=someone who is in prison waiting for their trial)
　The organization is arguing for the release of political prisoners (=people in prison because of their political opinions) .
someone who is taken by force and kept somewhere
= captive
hold/keep sb prisoner
　The guerillas kept her prisoner for three months.
　He was being held prisoner.
　Our pilot was taken prisoner .
　The army advanced, taking 200,000 prisoners .
someone who is in a place or situation from which they cannot escape
　He is a prisoner of his own past.