Marshalsea
Americannoun
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the court of the marshal of the royal household.
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a debtors' prison in London, abolished in 1842.
noun
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(formerly in England) a court held before the knight marshal: abolished 1849
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a prison for debtors and others, situated in Southwark, London: abolished in 1842
Etymology
Origin of Marshalsea
1350–1400; Middle English marchalsye, variant of marschalcie. See marshal, -cy
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.
His grandfather was a servant, and his father, John Dickens, was an impecunious minor civil servant ultimately sent to the notorious debtors’ prison, Marshalsea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2020
We take our first look at the Marshalsea debtors’ prison, which is to be the core of Little Dorrit.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 20, 2019
Young John Chivery, son of the Marshalsea Turnkeeper, is rewarded for running "mysterious missions" with a banquet, for which Miss Rugg "with her own hands stuffed a leg of mutton with oysters."
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2017
But lurking beneath the words is the whole Internet, ready to be questioned — “Find other works that quoted this,” “Where was the Marshalsea prison?”
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2010
Bishop Bonner was kept a close prisoner in the Marshalsea till his death in 1569.
From Res Judicat? Papers and Essays by Birrell, Augustine
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.
