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Example:

"Intelligence is usually confined to the ability to process information fast."

Is that a correct use of the verb confined?

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  • Yes, that is a correct use (assuming you believe the statement as a whole to be true, of course).
    – Dan Bron
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 13:27
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    It's not clear what you're actually trying to say. "confined to" in this sense means "owned or contained solely by", so at face value it looks like you're saying that "fast processing of information" is the only thing (only cognitive ability, perhaps) which uses or requires intelligence, which doesn't sound right to me. Someone or something could be slow at processing information but still be intelligent in other ways, and if this is the case then intelligence is NOT confined to fast processing of information.
    – Max Williams
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 13:34

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The use of "Confined" here implies that intelligence is only measured by someone's ability to process information fast. Therefore, I think it's not a correct usage of the verb, even though the sentence is grammatically correct.

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