bridewell
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of bridewell
First recorded in 1545–55; after a prison that formerly stood near the church of St. Bride in London
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.
After two weeks in the bridewell, Novelist Yehling changed his literary plans: "I think I'll join the Army and try to write a better book than Tolstoi's War and Peace."
From Time Magazine Archive
Rev. Ernest Bell: Dear Sir:—Could you tell me if Neil Jaeger is in the bridewell yet or has he been released?
From Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls or, War on the White Slave Trade by Bell, Ernest A. (Ernest Albert)
He returned to the county bridewell for a few days, and then was shifted to the castellated building.
From It Is Never Too Late to Mend by Reade, Charles
The cove was hued in the naskin; the rogue was soundly lashed in bridewell.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Grose, Francis
She learned that she had none, that her father had been arrested for vagrancy, and would be sent to the bridewell.
From Kristy's Rainy Day Picnic by Farnsworth, Ethel N.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
