jail
Americannoun
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jails
plural
verb (used with object)
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jails,
present (3rd person singular)
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jailed,
past participle, past
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jailing
present participle
noun
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a place for the confinement of persons convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or of persons awaiting trial to whom bail is not granted
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informal to get out of a difficult situation
verb
Usage
What is a basic definition of jail? A jail is a building that houses prisoners and people accused of crimes, especially minor crimes. Jail also means to imprison for committing a crime or to lawfully detain a person. A jail is a building where criminals or people accused of crimes are housed. Jails are usually small buildings that keep prisoners only until they go to trial or for criminals with short punishments. Typically, a prisoner only spends around 90 days in a jail. A person accused of a more serious crime may be kept in a jail until their trial or until they are transferred to a larger facility. The phrase “in jail” often means a person is spending time in a jail. A person who manages a jail or puts a person in a jail is called a jailer.
- Real-life examples: In the United States, jails are usually managed at the local level, such as by a town or county. A person who commits a minor offense such as being drunk in public or trespassing may be sentenced to spend time in a county jail.
- Used in a sentence: After a wild night, the partygoers woke up the next morning in the city jail.
- Real-life examples: If a person is arrested by police, they are usually jailed until they are taken to trial. Depending on the judge’s ruling, they may be jailed again as punishment for a crime.
- Used in a sentence: The police quickly jailed the men who were caught trying to steal a car.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rejailverb (used with object)
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jail-likeadjective
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jailableadjective
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jaillessadjective
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jaillikeadjective
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nonjailableadjective
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unjailedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jailsimple
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jailssimple
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have jailedperfect
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has jailedperfect
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am jailingprogressive
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are jailingprogressive
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is jailingprogressive
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have been jailingperfect progressive
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has been jailingperfect progressive
Past
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jailedsimple
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had jailedperfect
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was jailingprogressive
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were jailingprogressive
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had been jailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jail
1225–75; Middle English gaiole, jaiole, jaile < Old North French gaiole, Old French jaiole cage < Vulgar Latin *gaviola, variant of *caveola, diminutive of Latin cavea cage; see -ole 1
Explanation
A jail is a place where people are confined while they're being punished for a crime. If you end up getting a mug shot and put behind bars, chances are you are In jail. To arrest someone and put them in a jail cell is to jail them. Jail prisoners are often simply waiting for their trials — they've been charged with a crime, but they haven't yet been found to be guilty (or innocent). Jail was originally spelled gayhol, and in Britain it's also spelled gaol. This can be traced back to the Medieval Latin gabiola, from Late Latin caveola and the Latin cavea, "cage or enclosure."
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.
See Examples For:
In 2012, county jail inmates filed a lawsuit called Rosas vs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Maduro and Flores wore beige jail uniforms and both appear to have lost weight during their detention in Brooklyn.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
His lyrics reference life in parts of the city, avoiding jail and being a product of your environment.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
“I loved her so much, and the thought that I might go to jail now for something that I had no control over — she wouldn’t want that, you know?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
He agreed that there were times when a person seeking justice might need to take action that could land him in jail.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
About 650 more offenders will leave jails in England and Wales early on Tuesday in the second phase of the government's plan to tackle the prison population crisis.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Some 700 will leave jail on the morning of 1 October - if spread equally across all jails that would be around six per prison.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
In 2015, the Sheriff’s Department entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to implement reforms on mental health and use-of-force in its jails.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The gloves have been adopted in detention centers, law enforcement agencies and jails across the country, though apparently none in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
The Empire raids, jails, and kills for such “crimes,” but teaching a six-year-old her letters isn't evil—not in the minds of my people, the Scholar people.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Earlier this year, four of the group's activists were jailed after causing £1.2m of damage at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
They have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed in lieu of $20 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
He was only 7 in 1977 when he, one of his brothers and his father were jailed for the crime of trying to escape communist Vietnam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Martin Sean O'Lali has been jailed for causing the death by careless driving of 42-year-old Richard Boyle in 2021.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
He was arrested for his Tory activities and briefly jailed.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Back then, prisons were rapidly running out of cells because courts were jailing more criminals than the number being released - part of a 30-year trend.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Troops were also deployed to enforce strict Covid‑19 lockdowns in 2020 and during the deadly riots sparked by the jailing of ex‑president Jacob Zuma in 2021.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
The Metro leads on the jailing of James Gillingham, who was found guilty of running a £13m ponzi scheme.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in 2024 that Canberra was "gravely concerned" about the jailing of Ng and other Hong Kong activists.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
By not jailing her, the judge left her no way to appeal.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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