jail

American  

[jayl] / dʒeɪl /

British, gaol

noun

• jails
  plural

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

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verb (used with object)

• jails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• jailed,
  past participle,  past
• jailing
  present participle

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

jail British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to confine in prison

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.

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• jails
  plural

Participles

• jailing
  present
• jailed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• jail
  simple
• jails
  simple
• have jailed
  perfect
• has jailed
  perfect
• am jailing
  progressive
• are jailing
  progressive
• is jailing
  progressive
• have been jailing
  perfect progressive
• has been jailing
  perfect progressive

Past

• jailed
  simple
• had jailed
  perfect
• was jailing
  progressive
• were jailing
  progressive
• had been jailing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will jail
  simple
• will have jailed
  perfect
• will be jailing
  progressive
• will have been jailing
  perfect progressive

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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

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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

See Examples For:

jail jails jailed jailing

Having already spent the last six years in jail, Wong, who was due to be freed in January, will now spend another decade behind bars.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

In 2023, Patel was given a 20-year jail sentence but hasn't served a day of his sentence.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

He was fined, sentenced to five days in jail, and put on probation for three years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

He "has matured substantially in his thoughts and views" in jail, his lawyer told the court in September.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

That was a fancy way of saying they were in jail, at least for now.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

The product is also banned in jails in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Haitian detentions in four Ohio jails had shot up more than 140 percent in the first five weeks since the end of their protected status, according to a report from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Deputies are supposed to walk the corridors of county jails every half-hour to check on the welfare of the incarcerated men, and yet a report released in mid-August by L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

The office also can lift obstacles to building more affordable housing, while using its prosecutor role to shift many homeless offenders to diversion programs “rather than cycling people between jails and our streets,” Roy said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Two-thirds of people detained in jails report annual incomes under $12,000 prior to arrest.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Dozens of young activists have fled into exile to avoid being jailed.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Being jailed while awaiting trial can cause arrestees to lose jobs and child custody, the organizations argued.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

They held up photos of jailed journalists, chanting: "We will not be silenced. Enough is enough!" and "We will not bow to pressure".

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

In August 2022, Garza was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered to be jailed until a bed in a state mental health treatment facility was available.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

"I am very important and have immunity from being jailed by the queen's court. I can risk it."

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

“I use it as a tool to give a judge a way to consider not jailing my client,” or fully suspending their driving rights, said defense lawyer Garrett Green.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Troops were also deployed to enforce strict Covid‑19 lockdowns in 2020 and during the deadly riots sparked by the jailing of ex‑president Jacob Zuma in 2021.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 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

Despite his jailing, Khan remains a significant presence in Pakistani politics with a large number of supporters.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 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

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Related Words

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

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