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:
He was given a 16-year jail sentence in July, but lodged an appeal a month later.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Smith denied this, and Schmitt grinned as if he’d just effectively locked Smith in jail forever on perjury charges.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026
He was sentenced to one day in jail and fined $1,150.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Under the latest early release scheme, eligible prisoners can now be released on a community licence after serving one-third of their jail sentence.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
“I just don’t understand how all of this happened. This morning I woke up in jail, and now I’m about to fly to Scotland for spy training. It’s just so...overwhelming.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
On Thursday hundreds of prisoners were released early, under new rules introduced to prevent jails reaching capacity, with around 4,500 due to be freed by next summer.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Often, Huntsman said, he found problems in the jails were the result of deficient training and management.
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
Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government is planning to release thousands of prisoners early this October, as it scrambles to free up space in jails almost at 100% capacity.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
He knew they had big stoves in big jails.
From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong
He was jailed for 40 years in the US after pleading guilty to supporting al-Qaeda.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
His lawyer arranged an audio call with Kashani, who is jailed in Isfahan but in another prison, to recite religious marriage vows before he died, with their fathers both giving permission.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Venezuelan former first lady Cilia Flores has a "very delicate" heart condition, her son-in-law told AFP on Monday, calling for her release from the US prison where she was jailed alongside Nicolas Maduro.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
He is currently jailed in Van Nuys, and his bail is set at $3 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Over one thousand Panthers were jailed, many on false charges, as a result of informants, perpetual surveillance, and other law enforcement tactics that would later become defining features of the War on Drugs.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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
More than 83,000 spaces are occupied by male inmates, despite the government introducing a presumption against jailing anyone for under one year to free up more space.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 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
They point to human rights abuses, such as the plight of the Uyghurs and also to the jailing in Hong Kong of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy media tycoon.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
Lafayette’s reputation in the black community was raised another notch when he went to court to fight his arrest and jailing on a false charge of vagrancy.
From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman
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.
