Marshalsea
Americannoun
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the court of the marshal of the royal household.
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a debtors' prison in London, abolished in 1842.
noun
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(formerly in England) a court held before the knight marshal: abolished 1849
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a prison for debtors and others, situated in Southwark, London: abolished in 1842
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.
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
John Dickens, the father of the novelist, was thrown into the Marshalsea for debt, an experience young Charles never forgot – and used to brilliant effect in Little Dorrit.
From The Guardian • Mar. 18, 2013
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
