jail

British, gaol

[jeyl]

noun

1. a prison, especially one for the detention of persons awaiting trial or convicted of minor offenses.

verb (used with object)

1. to take into or hold in lawful custody; imprison.

jail

/ dʒeɪl /

noun

1. a place for the confinement of persons convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or of persons awaiting trial to whom bail is not granted

2. informal,  to get out of a difficult situation

verb

1. (tr) to confine in prison

Other Word Forms

• jailless adjective
• jail-like adjective
• jailable adjective
• jaillike adjective
• nonjailable adjective
• rejail verb (used with object)
• unjailed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of jail¹

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; -ole ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of jail¹

C13: from Old French jaiole cage, from Vulgar Latin caveola (unattested), from Latin cavea enclosure; see _cage : the two spellings derive from the forms of the word that developed in two different areas of France, and the spelling gaol represents a pronunciation in use until the 17th century

Example Sentences

Homeboy was founded 37 years ago to help thousands of formerly incarcerated people and gang-involved youths acquire new skills and avoid returning to jail or prison.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Updike worried that his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, would turn it down and that its appearance in England might even send him to jail.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A man who murdered a teenage Syrian refugee in a busy town centre street has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years.

Read more on BBC

“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” he said in a Truth Social post.

Read more on Salon

Gill's defence barrister has said he expects to be jailed for his offences.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• confine 
• detain 
• hold 
• imprison 
• lock up 
• sentence 
• take away 

When To Use

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.

As a verb, jail means to imprison a person for a crime as allowed under the law. This sense specifically refers to legal imprisonment, usually by police officers, rather than by kidnapping or abduction.

• 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.

Jail can easily be confused for prison, and the two are often used interchangeably when referring to lawful imprisonment in general.In the United States, a prison is managed by a state or the federal government and typically holds prisoners convicted of serious crimes who have very long sentences. Prisons are larger, usually better funded, and have much tighter security than jails. Prison can also be used more generally to refer to any place a person is confined, like a basement or in your own head. Jail is specifically a place for prisoners or people accused of crimes.Gaol is a variant spelling of jail used mostly in British English.