First recorded in 1715–25
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He could face two years in state prison, according to the news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
A onetime California oil boomtown about 60 miles southwest of Fresno, Avenal has spent decades off the beaten track, known more for its pistachios and sprawling state prison than for political upheaval.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Given the circumstances of this case and the death that resulted, we believe a state prison commitment was the appropriate and just sentence.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Nineteen state prison systems are using digital tools and artificial intelligence from nonprofit Recidiviz to consolidate scattered prisoner data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
The bill created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some “three-strikers,” and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and expansion of state and local police forces.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
State prison data is so difficult to access that it’s tough to calculate the country’s three-year recidivism rate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
McCarthy was in solitary confinement for 10 years at Pelican Bay State prison and, like Ramos, wants to see the use of solitary end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022
The chance of even a single inmate achieving exoneration is a long shot in the New York State prison system, where out of thousands of inmate appeals, only a handful are successful each year.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2022
State prison officials have said they cannot comment on any individual prisoner’s medical record.
From Reuters ● Apr. 9, 2020
They don’t call a man a convict unless he has been sent to the State prison, or to the Federal penitentiary.
From The Corner House Girls Among the Gypsies How They Met, What Happened, and How It Ended by Hill, Grace Brooks
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.
