bridewell

American  

[brahyd-wel, -wuhl] / ˈbraɪdˌwɛl, -wəl /

noun

British.

1. a prison.

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bridewell British  

/ -wəl, ˈbraɪdˌwɛl /

noun

1. a house of correction; jail, esp for minor offences

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Etymology

Origin of bridewell

First recorded in 1545–55; after a prison that formerly stood near the church of St. Bride in London

Example Sentences

After two weeks in the bridewell, Novelist Yehling changed his literary plans: "I think I'll join the Army and try to write a better book than Tolstoi's War and Peace."

From Time Magazine Archive

Now, be Hivens, th' rich have invaded even th' coorts an' the bridewell.

From Mr. Dooley Says by Dunne, Finley Peter

Adjoining the Town-hall, or separated only by an avenue, is a heavy, monastic-looking building, used as a bridewell, and called the City Penitentiary.

From An Englishman's Travels in America His Observations of Life and Manners in the Free and Slave States by Benwell, John

To mill doll; to beat hemp in bridewell.

From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Grose, Francis

Habeas corpuses have been heard; men have been sent to the penitentiary and others to the bridewell and some to the jail.

From The Crime of the Century or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin by Hunt, Henry M.