containment

noun

con·​tain·​ment kən-ˈtān-mənt 

1

: the act, process, or means of keeping something within limits

the containment of health costs

2

: the policy, process, or result of preventing the expansion of a hostile power or ideology

Examples of containment in a Sentence

The company's hazardous waste containment plan is being reviewed.

The government needs to adopt a containment strategy.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Dome Fire had grown to 6,760 acres with 40% containment over the weekend, with slightly more than 1,000 personnel assigned, per updates from California Interagency Incident Management Team 4. — Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2026

One is being developed for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to handle hazardous-material containment, mitigation and sampling. — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2026

The natural consequence will be more spending on AI security, governance and containment. — Girish Joshi, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026

On Earth, reactors are cocooned inside containment structures, which would be extremely expensive and technically challenging to build on the moon. — Selam Gebrekidan, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

contain + -ment

First Known Use

1655, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for containment

• arraignment
• attainment
• entrainment
• sustainment
• ascertainment
• entertainment