penitentiary
a place for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment, especially a prison maintained in the U.S. by a state or the federal government for serious offenders.
Roman Catholic Church. a tribunal in the Curia Romana, presided over by a cardinal (grand penitentiary ), having jurisdiction over certain matters, as penance, confession, dispensation, absolution, and impediments, and dealing with questions of conscience reserved for the Holy See.
(of an offense) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary.
of, relating to, or intended for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment.
Origin of penitentiary
1Words Nearby penitentiary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use penitentiary in a sentence
Because there’s no old folks home for drug dealers, just the federal penitentiary.
50 Cent On Why ‘Power Book IV: Force’ Is The Best Spinoff Yet | Rivea Ruff | February 4, 2022 | Essence.comIt is four federal correctional centers and a state penitentiary that house more than 4,000 inmates, about half the population of the two largest cities—Oxford, the county seat, and Butner, where the prisons are located.
ANALYSIS: Prisons and Prisoners, Wild Cards in the Voting Rights Struggle | Milton Coleman | January 17, 2022 | TruthBeTold.newsAs a prisoner, you work to uncover a mystery about the penitentiary.
Ruffin’s findings led the Justice Department to announce that about 400 inmates, being held at the jail in federal criminal cases, will be transferred to a penitentiary in Pennsylvania.
D.C. jail ordered U.S. marshals to leave after surprise inspections, judge says | Spencer Hsu, Emily Davies, Paul M. Duggan | November 4, 2021 | Washington PostI didn’t want him to talk himself into the penitentiary for life.
He Robbed a Taco Joint With a Toy Water Gun for $264. He Got Life in Prison. | Kate Briquelet | May 31, 2021 | The Daily Beast
The Mexican Mafia run their empire from the penitentiary to the streets of LA.
The Mexican Mafia Is the Daddy of All Street Gangs | Seth Ferranti | December 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI recently visited Graterford, a maximum-security state penitentiary in Pennsylvania, 30 miles from Philadelphia.
Here’s a Reform Even the Koch Brothers and George Soros Can Agree On | Tina Brown | November 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe is now serving a minimum of a two-year sentence in a federal penitentiary.
He served two months at the Mississippi state penitentiary before his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner May Be Handsy, but He Won’t Resign | Caitlin Dickson | July 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut under house arrest after 18 months in a federal penitentiary.
Aaron Swartz’s Thought Crime Was Tragically Treated Like Real Crime | Bill McKibben | January 14, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is nothing like it among us at the present day except within the melancholy precincts of the penitentiary.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockHe didn't think the penitentiary the place for them, and would not have the convicts contaminated by them.
Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot | William Gannaway BrownlowIn the three months of penitentiary life I have learned many things.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanWe are requiring heavy bail and asking for imprisonment in the penitentiary in case of conviction.
Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls | VariousIn a remote state of the West there is a respectable and successful farmer, who was once sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
Thoughts on Educational Topics and Institutions | George S. Boutwell
British Dictionary definitions for penitentiary
/ (ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃərɪ) /
(in the US and Canada) a state or federal prison: in Canada, esp a federal prison for offenders convicted of serious crimes: Sometimes shortened to: pen
RC Church
a cleric appointed to supervise the administration of the sacrament of penance in a particular area
a priest who has special faculties to absolve particularly grave sins
a cardinal who presides over a tribunal that decides all matters affecting the sacrament of penance
this tribunal itself
another word for penitential (def. 1)
US and Canadian (of an offence) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary
Origin of penitentiary
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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