jail

[ jeyl ]
See synonyms for jail on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a prison, especially one for the detention of persons awaiting trial or convicted of minor offenses.

verb (used with object)
  1. to take into or hold in lawful custody; imprison.

Origin of jail

1
1225–75; Middle English gaiole, jaiole, jaile<Old North French gaiole,Old French jaiole cage <Vulgar Latin *gaviola, variant of *caveola, diminutive of Latin caveacage; see -ole1
  • Also British, gaol .

Other words from jail

  • jail·a·ble, adjective
  • jailless, adjective
  • jaillike, adjective
  • non·jail·a·ble, adjective
  • re·jail, verb (used with object)
  • un·jailed, adjective

Words that may be confused with jail

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jail in a sentence

  • I see how maybe I could get me and Jim rid of the frauds; get them jailed here, and then leave.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • Within six months, if you're not sandbagged or jailed on fake libel suits, you'll have a unique bibliography of swindles.

    Average Jones | Samuel Hopkins Adams
  • Her brother Bob was jailed again on Christmas day for drawin a gun on one of the Groudys.

    The Wayfarers | Mary Stewart Cutting
  • Former laborers had fled or had been conscripted, jailed, or killed.

    The Haciendas of Mexico | Paul Alexander Bartlett
  • That was a good move—getting Ludlow and the two Helgersons jailed.

    The Quickening | Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for jail

jail

gaol

/ (dʒeɪl) /


noun
  1. a place for the confinement of persons convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or of persons awaiting trial to whom bail is not granted

  2. get out of jail or get out of jail free informal to get out of a difficult situation

verb
  1. (tr) to confine in prison

Origin of jail

1
C13: from Old French jaiole cage, from Vulgar Latin caveola (unattested), from Latin cavea enclosure; see cage : the two spellings derive from the forms of the word that developed in two different areas of France, and the spelling gaol represents a pronunciation in use until the 17th century

Derived forms of jail

  • jailless or gaolless, adjective
  • jail-like or gaol-like, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012