Learn Arabic › B2 › حَبَس
حَبَس
to detain, imprison, or hold back /ˈħa.ba.sa/
verbB2#4245 most common
Also: to confine, to withhold, to restrain
Example sentences
حَبَسَ الشُّرْطِيُّ اللِّصَّ.
The policeman detained the thief.
حَبَسْتُ الْقِطَّةَ فِي الْغُرْفَةِ.
I shut the cat in the room.
حَبَسْتُ أَنْفَاسِي مِنَ الدَّهْشَةِ.
I held my breath in astonishment.
حَبَسَ الْقَاضِي الرَّجُلَ فِي السِّجْنِ لِمُدَّةِ عَامٍ بَعْدَ إِدَانَتِهِ بِالسَّرِقَةِ.
The judge imprisoned the man for a year after convicting him of theft.
يُحْبَسُ الْمُتَّهَمُونَ احْتِيَاطِيًّا حَتَّى تَنْتَهِيَ إِجْرَاءَاتُ الْمُحَاكَمَةِ الْقَضَائِيَّةِ.
The accused are held in pretrial detention until the court proceedings conclude.
حَبَسَتِ السُّلُطَاتُ أَنْفَاسَ الْمُعَارَضَةِ بِقَوَانِينَ صَارِمَةٍ حَتَّى خَشِيَ الْمُرَاقِبُونَ الدُّولِيُّونَ أَنْ يَنْقَرِضَ الْحِرَاكُ الْمَدَنِيُّ بِرُمَّتِهِ.
The authorities stifled the opposition with strict laws, until international observers feared the entire civic movement would disappear.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَحْبِسُ | حَبَسْتُ | سَأَحْبِسُ |
| 2sg | تَحْبِسُ | حَبَسْتَ | سَتَحْبِسُ |
| 3sg | يَحْبِسُ | حَبَسَ | سَيَحْبِسُ |
| 1pl | نَحْبِسُ | حَبَسْنَا | سَنَحْبِسُ |
| 2pl | تَحْبِسُونَ | حَبَسْتُمْ | سَتَحْبِسُونَ |
| 3pl | يَحْبِسُونَ | حَبَسُوا | سَيَحْبِسُونَ |
Word family
حَبْسimprisonment, a jail term
مَحْبِسprison, place of confinement
حَابِسone who detains or holds back
مَحْبُوسimprisoned, held in custodyحَبِيسconfined, shut away, secluded
Etymology
حَبَس comes from the triliteral Semitic root ḥ-b-s, meaning to hold back or shut in. The root is native to Arabic and shows up across the Semitic language family with a similar core sense of binding or restraint. Classical dictionaries already list ḥabasa with the legal sense of detention, alongside the more general sense of holding something back, such as water or breath.
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