Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

Marshalsea

American  
[mahr-shuhl-see] / ˈmɑr ʃəlˌsi /

noun

British History.
  1. the court of the marshal of the royal household.

  2. a debtors' prison in London, abolished in 1842.


Marshalsea British  
/ ˈmɑːʃəlˌsiː /

noun

  1. (formerly in England) a court held before the knight marshal: abolished 1849

  2. a prison for debtors and others, situated in Southwark, London: abolished in 1842

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Marshalsea

1350–1400; Middle English marchalsye, variant of marschalcie. See marshal, -cy


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He briefly ran his own financial consultancy, which he named Marshalsea Associates, after the prison in “Little Dorrit.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2021

His grandfather was a servant, and his father, John Dickens, was an impecunious minor civil servant ultimately sent to the notorious debtors’ prison, Marshalsea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2020

Left: took his selfie while filming at the wall of Marshalsea debtors' prison.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2014

Hence his confinement in the Marshalsea, where "anybody might see that the shadow of the wall was upon him".

From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2010

But one drop of bitterness flavored the cup of the Marshalsea Club.

From In Jail with Charles Dickens by Alfred Trumble

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training