1Canned food—food sealed in a metal can for long-term preservation.
非常持ち出し袋に缶詰をいくつか入れておいた。
I put a few cans of food in the emergency bag.
サバの缶詰でおいしい味噌汁を作った。
I made a delicious miso soup using canned mackerel.
キャンプにはお湯を注ぐだけの缶詰が便利だ。
Canned food you can just add hot water to is convenient for camping.
スーパーの棚にはいろいろな缶詰が並んでいる。
All kinds of canned goods are lined up on the supermarket shelves.
2To confine someone (e.g., in a hotel room) so they focus on a task without distraction, usually expressed as 缶詰にする.
締切前、編集者は作家をホテルに缶詰にした。
Before the deadline, the editor confined the writer to a hotel room.
試験前は塾に缶詰にされて勉強させられた。
Before the exam, I was confined to the cram school and made to study.
会社は開発チームを一週間缶詰にして新製品を仕上げさせた。
The company confined the development team for a week to finish the new product.
3To become stuck in a confined space or unable to leave a place, often due to circumstances like bad weather; usually expressed as 缶詰になる.
台風で飛行機が飛ばず、空港で一晩缶詰になった。
Because the typhoon grounded flights, we were stuck at the airport all night.
大雪で車が動けず、高速道路で缶詰になった。
Heavy snow left cars unable to move, stuck on the highway.