jail delivery

American  

noun

1. a liberation of persons from prison, especially by force.

2. the act of clearing a jail of prisoners by bringing them to trial, as at the assizes in England.

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jail delivery British  

noun

1. forcible and illegal liberation of prisoners from jail

2. 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

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Etymology

Origin of jail delivery

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jail delivery

"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

Well, who knows, perhaps there may be a general jail delivery there yet; but talking of the thing, I assure you, sir, I feel a portion of its tortures.

From The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by William Carleton

Under the old regime, this important power was vested in a single official, and he usually took care to have a general jail delivery in time for the next election.

From The Curious Republic of Gondour, and Other Whimsical Sketches by Mark Twain

What cries of joy, what sobs of relief from the saner inmates, as they try to think their new, almost incredible jail delivery!

From Orphans of the Storm by Henry MacMahon

The Fleet, King's Bench, the Marshalsea, Wood-street Compter, and Clerkenwell Bridewell, were all opened, and such a jail delivery effected as the citizens had never witnessed before.

From London in Modern Times or, Sketches of the English Metropolis during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. by Unknown