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definitions

state prison

noun
  1. a prison maintained by a state for the confinement of felons.

Origin of state prison

First recorded in 1715–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for state prison

Historical Examples of state prison

  • On the way we stopped at Auburn, where there was a great State-prison, which I visited alone.

    Memoirs

    Charles Godfrey Leland

  • "I asked you what you wanted of me, you state-prison bird," repeated the steward.

    Freaks of Fortune

    Oliver Optic

  • There are some of them that will go to state-prison for attempted blackmail.

  • I never come away from a visit to a State-prison without a new spasm of fear and virtue.

    Backlog Studies

    Charles Dudley Warner

  • Love and a duel are bad enough; but an Austrian state-prison, and a sentence of twenty years in irons, are even worse.

    The Fortunes Of Glencore

    Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for state prison

State prison

noun
  1. (in the US) a prison where persons convicted of serious crimes are confined
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