jail delivery
Americannoun
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a liberation of persons from prison, especially by force.
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the act of clearing a jail of prisoners by bringing them to trial, as at the assizes in England.
noun
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forcible and illegal liberation of prisoners from jail
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English law (formerly) a commission issued to assize judges when they come to a circuit town authorizing them to try all prisoners and release those acquitted
Etymology
Origin of jail delivery
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75
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.
Due to the foregoing circumstances, Lanier's jail delivery was eminently successful.
From Overshadowed A Novel by Sutton E. (Sutton Elbert) Griggs
"There's the True Blue put on extra to-day for the jail delivery," he remarked.
From Highway Pirates or, The Secret Place at Coverthorne by Harold Avery
In fact, to tell the whole truth, there was a jail delivery week ago, which has been kept secret up to now.
From The Airplane Boys among the Clouds or, Young Aviators in a Wreck by John Luther Langworthy
They have never had a jail delivery here, you know.
From The Land of Frozen Suns by Bertrand W. Sinclair
It was opposed vigorously by Wilson, of Massachusetts, who called it a general jail delivery for the benefit of traitors.
From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by Horace White
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.
