quarantine

Everyday

1. Quarantine is a time when a person or animal who may have a catching disease is kept away from others so the disease does not spread. tree →
2. (verb) To quarantine someone or something is to keep them apart for this reason. tree →
3. In computing, to quarantine a file is to lock away a file that may have a virus. tree →

In the lessons

In science and health lessons, quarantine stops infections spreading, for example during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people stayed home. In everyday life in Australia and New Zealand, strict quarantine (biosecurity) at airports stops pests and diseases arriving on food, plants and animals; pets coming from abroad may need quarantine. In history, ships with sick sailors were kept in quarantine. Common phrases: «in quarantine», «go into quarantine», «quarantine period», «under quarantine».

Examples

• The new puppy had to stay in quarantine for ten days. tree →
• During the pandemic, our family went into quarantine. tree →
• Australian airports have strict quarantine rules for fruit and plants. tree →
• The ship was kept in quarantine until no one was sick. tree →
• The antivirus program quarantined the dangerous file. tree →
• Sick chickens were quarantined away from the flock. tree →
• The quarantine lasted two weeks. tree →

Note

Say KWOR-an-teen. It comes from Italian «quaranta giorni», «forty days», the time ships waited long ago. Not the same as «isolation»: isolation is for people who are definitely sick; quarantine is for people who might be.