How to Use enslave in a Sentence

enslave

verb
  • What about those who were enslaved?
    — JSTOR Daily, 25 Nov. 2025
  • She was enslaved, but there was still hope in her world, there was still joy in her world.
    — Jaha Nailah Avery june 9, Literary Hub, 9 June 2025
  • He was also enslaved by the Clarks.
    — Craig Fehrman, The Conversation, 1 Apr. 2026
  • He was also enslaved by the Clarks.
    — Craig Fehrman, Space.com, 6 Apr. 2026
  • She was born free, but she was later enslaved by a colored man.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2024
  • Some of the locals believed the ship took the men and enslaved them.
    — Akash Kapur, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
  • Children were enslaved from birth.
    — ABC News, 28 May 2026
  • This is a group of people that enslaves women and sells them, sells them as brides.
    — New York Times, 15 Jan. 2016
  • Some ant species kidnap the colony’s offspring and enslave them.
    — CNN Money, 17 Nov. 2025
  • One set of grandparents had been enslaved.
    — Jeffrey Bennett, Time, 31 Mar. 2026
  • The modern concept of race has been used too long to enslave and exploit.
    — John Blake, CNN, 4 Sep. 2021
  • This is how Gladys enslaves Alex—no magic, just fear.
    — Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Some say the photo looks like a young black girl was being enslaved by her classmates.
    — CBS News, 20 Oct. 2017
  • Born enslaved, Scott lived for only 16 months as a free man.
    — Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Africans, both enslaved and free, some of whom had been among the first conquistadors.
    — Lizzie Wade, Science | AAAS, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Thousands were killed, others enslaved, and many who fled to the mountains were starved out.
    — Maham Javaid, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2023
  • Slavers didn’t keep records of family lineages and the enslaved couldn’t do so.
    — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Born enslaved, my grandmother taught my father how to fight.
    — Gaby Iori january 27, Literary Hub, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The enslaved soon put this inequality to good use.
    — Marlene L. Daut september 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The enslaved turned out tasty meals from the scraps and undesired cuts of meat tossed aside by slave masters.
    — Angel Jennings, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2020
  • Across the world they had been enslaved, exploited and murdered.
    — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
  • No one alive right now will have been alive long enough for Black people to be free as long as we were enslaved.
    — H. Alan Scott, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025
  • And this phrase was meant to apply to all people, women as well as men, the enslaved as well as the free.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026
  • There is no mystery as to why a black person would cast off the identity that kept him enslaved.
    — Emily Bernard, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
  • But the people enslaved by Thomas are not named in the document.
    — Tracy Scott Forson, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Feb. 2024
  • Morgan had been born in Maryland, where her mother had been enslaved.
    — Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
  • But the process would take a little time; central banks will not want to appear too enslaved to the markets.
    — The Economist, 30 Sep. 2017
  • For centuries, spiritual hymns have kept hope alive, even more so for the enslaved.
    — Ukee Washington, CBS News, 19 June 2026
  • Women and children were enslaved.
    — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
  • Most of the justices were from families that enslaved people.
    — Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'enslave.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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