jail

American  

[jeyl] / 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

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

See Examples For:

jail jails jailed jailing

A jury convicted him of a misdemeanor anyway, on the theory that a single six-pack sat in plain view, and a judge gave him the statutory minimum: a $1,500 fine and three days in jail.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took a crucial step toward restoring county funding for initiatives to help keep people out of jail.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

In October 2023, Truelove pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property in Virginia and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

One part of the plan means that most jailed offenders on fixed terms will leave jail after serving a third of their term behind bars, rather than at the halfway point.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

And Palsson had been the initial Icelander to join forces with Bobby in his attempt to get out of jail.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The documentary traces Manson to his troubled childhood and almost constant incarceration in youth facilities and jails.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Tens of thousands of inmates have been let out of prison to create more space in jails since 2024.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

There are even miniature jails you can lock your phone in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

County allotted $25 million this fiscal year to fund the treatment program in local jails.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

The jails were packed to capacity.1 Reporters and photographers captured in undeniable images the confrontation between the children and the police.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

He was jailed after an attempt to flee communist Germany but later made his way to West Germany where, following his medical studies, he invented the process to preserve biological specimens in 1977.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Edwards was jailed for three years and eight months.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

In fairness, Mr. Trump succeeded in pressing China to free a jailed Christian pastor, Ezra Jin, whose children are U.S. citizens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The 52-year-old army veteran pleaded guilty to all charges in June 2026 and was jailed for 18 months last week.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

As Germany grew more desperate for manpower during the last months of war, the army offered Karl Schnibbe, who was jailed for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, the opportunity to restore his honor by fighting for Germany.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

When jailing Long, Judge Perrins said: "Your offending has taken a very heavy toll on the lives of so many and you should feel deeply ashamed."

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 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

ICE held her incommunicado for 24 hours and then shuffled her through three states before jailing her in Louisiana.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025

As well as jailing him, District Judge Arvind Sharma also imposed a new indefinite restraining order.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025

However, both saw promise in the dramatic arrest, jailing, and trial of a fifteen-year-old bus protester.

From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose

Related Words

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