jail
a prison, especially one for the detention of persons awaiting trial or convicted of minor offenses.
to take into or hold in lawful custody; imprison.
Origin of jail
1- Also British, gaol .
Other words from jail
- jail·a·ble, adjective
- jailless, adjective
- jaillike, adjective
- non·jail·a·ble, adjective
- re·jail, verb (used with object)
- un·jailed, adjective
Words that may be confused with jail
- jail , prison
Words Nearby jail
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use jail in a sentence
Another was accused in a lawsuit of threatening to jail women if they didn’t have sex with him.
Sacramento Report: Jones, COVID-19 and the Irony of Remote Voting | Sara Libby and Jesse Marx | August 28, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoMaybe only a federal effort to establish standards and regulate compliance to them would be necessary before we no longer have a Robert Williams, a member of any minority group, or any citizen unjustly experience a night in jail or worse.
DHS agents in Portland have tear-gassed protesters and pulled individuals into unmarked vans, and some of those people were banned from attending any more protests as a condition of being released from jail.
What Happened In Portland Shows Just How Fragile Our Democracy Is | Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 5, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightAnyone who violated the law would be subject to a fine of $100-$500 – the equivalent of $1,700-$8,500 today – or a jail term of up to 150 days.
‘Keep Your Mouth Shut’: Why San Diego Banned ‘Seditious’ Talk in 1918 | Randy Dotinga | August 4, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThe officers then proceeded to grab his groceries, dump them to the ground, put him in handcuffs and take him to jail, where he’d spend the night for the crime of occupying multiple seats on a transit facility.
The Next Major Reform Prosecutor Could Well Be a ‘Survivor’ | Joshua Eferighe | August 4, 2020 | Ozy
As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
Violators face up to nine months in jail or as much as $10,000 in fines.
There are millions of stories that end with black boys in jail cells.
Brinsley got out of jail last July, and was desperate and aimless.
Alleged Cop Killer Ismaaiyl Brinsley Had a Death Wish | M.L. Nestel | December 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSome of them, including Kurnosova, escaped the country as they faced a possible jail term for their opposition activity.
Why have I never heard until the day before yesterday of your suffering yourself to be cooped up in jail?
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2) | Charles DickensThey say that if he gets a judgment against you, Elder, he will put you in jail, and all that; but of course that couldn't be.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxCasey was arrested and conveyed to jail under great popular excitement.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellFor these people, under the older dispensation, there was nothing but the poorhouse, the jail or starvation by the roadside.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockOn the Mabolo road there is a Leper Hospital, and the ruins of a partly well-built jail which was never completed.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
British Dictionary definitions for jail
gaol
/ (dʒeɪl) /
a place for the confinement of persons convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or of persons awaiting trial to whom bail is not granted
get out of jail or get out of jail free informal to get out of a difficult situation
(tr) to confine in prison
Origin of jail
1Derived forms of jail
- jailless or gaolless, adjective
- jail-like or gaol-like, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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