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open prison

British

noun

a penal establishment in which the prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences and so do not need to be locked up, thus extending the range of work and occupation they can safely undertake

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In England, a 61-year-old first offender convicted of embezzlement would almost certainly go to an open prison - but that option does not exist in Scotland.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

Big Brother Watch's Silkie Carlo said she feared the country would be "turned into an open prison".

From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025

Panel members for Connelly's review will assess her risk in whether to release her from prison or recommend she is transferred to open prison conditions.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025

The panel hearing the evidence could also recommend that he move to an open prison, or direct that he should remain in a closed prison.

From BBC • Oct. 7, 2025

There is evidently a mistake in supposing that this book contains any charm for breaking open prison doors, and it is likely that Sir John Reresby was misled in this way:—There is in p.

From Notes and Queries, Number 13, January 26, 1850 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023