a bounded scope; " he stayed with the confines of the city"

Joint limits; adjacent parts; boundaries.

The roar filled out like a flood slowly released from its confines to sweep down with the sound of doom. – The Last of the Plainsmen by Zane Grey

All this time, Phil saw little or nothing of Mayor Brenchfield, for his were busy days, and Brenchfield's fields of operation were seldom within the confines of the blacksmith shop. – The Spoilers of the Valley by Robert Watson

After years spent in the narrow confines of a car, however luxurious, and the necessarily limited quarters of hotels, the girls reveled in the spacious house, over which they spread themselves in an amusing fashion, sleeping in turn in the various bedrooms by way of getting acquainted with them all over again, Julie said, and with reckless prodigality hanging some portion of their wardrobe in every closet in the house. – Those Dale Girls by Frank Weston Carruth

It needed the intervention of the local clerk of the commission to convince the chairman that he was talking to a man far richer than himself, besides being experienced and sage to the confines of rural wisdom. – Patsy by S. R. Crockett

The momentary resting- place of Thales on the confines of the familiar world of things, in his formulation of Water as the principle of existence, is thus immediately removed. – A Short History of Greek Philosophy by John Marshall

His portrait appears on the millions of bottles with green seals, which are sent to the confines of the globe. – The Waif of the "Cynthia" by André Laurie and Jules Verne

So they came at dusk to Autafort, a rock castle on the confines of Perigord, held by Bertran de Born. – The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay by Maurice Hewlett

Not a man of his riders had been beyond the confines of the grazing lands; no one had come in from the outside. – The Desert Valley by Jackson Gregory

But now they turned off the main road through a gap in the snake- fence, and followed many wheel tracks to the farther confines of the field where, under a huge tree they could see a group of men. – The Adventures of Bobby Orde by Stewart Edward White

As Jean had reverently assured Grace, it was indeed, to him, a sacred mission on which he was now setting forth, and he longed impatiently for the moment to come when he might leave the narrow confines of the railway train and set foot in the little village nearest to the lumber camp. – Grace Harlowe's Golden Summer by Jessie Graham Flower

In this emergency, a severe attack of rheumatism confines him to his chamber for many days. – The Idler in France by Marguerite Gardiner

With unlimited wealth at his command he still confines himself to the smoke and dust of civilisation, leaving the free air and the brilliant beauty of the wilderness to the wild- fowl and the penniless hunter, and the wandering savage! – The Big Otter by R.M. Ballantyne

It would go straight towards it, if it could; but the string confines it, and so it can only go down in the same way that it came up; that is, by the curved line." – Rollo's Experiments by Jacob Abbott

When all is said and done, ma'am, there's no law in the State that confines me to leaving my savings to any particular young man. – A Son of the Hills by Harriet T. Comstock

Then suddenly from the confines of the battle rose and spread a cry of " Cave canem!" – The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch by Talbot Baines Reed

Ere another week pass over us, we may have sterner pastime and closer confines – Rienzi by Edward Bulwer Lytton

That is true, said Dick, and if she confines herself to truth, we have no right to try and stop her. – The Honour of the Clintons by Archibald Marshall

At these confines of civilization, the American is always a hunter, and those who dwell on the smaller farms, at the edges of forests, often depend, for their animal food, upon the skill of the male portion of their community. – Monsieur Violet by Frederick Marryat

A great sacrifice of liberty must necessarily be made in every government; yet even the authority, which confines liberty, can never, and perhaps ought never, in any constitution, to become quite entire and uncontrollable. – Essays by David Hume Commentator: Hannaford Bennett

" Oh, Dennis, we seem just on the confines of a glorious world- it is so near, so real- it seems as if but a step would take us all into it. – Barriers Burned Away by E. P. Roe