ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Jail

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /d͡ʒeɪl/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Jail is a noun meaning (uncountable) Confinement in a jail.

Meaning

(uncountable) Confinement in a jail.

More Meanings

  1. In dodgeball and related games, the area where players who have been struck by the ball are confined.
  2. (computing, FreeBSD, usually uncountable) A kind of sandbox for running a guest operating system instance.
  3. To imprison.
  4. (horse racing, uncountable) The condition created by the requirement that a horse claimed in a claiming race not be run at another track for some period of time (usually 30 days).
  5. A place or institution for the confinement of persons held against their will in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.

Example Sentences

jail sentence
serve time in jail
released from jail
He was sent to jail for theft.

Word Forms

Synonyms for jail

Depending on context, synonyms include borstal, bridewell, brig, calaboose, can, chokey.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include jailhouse, gaol, incarcerate, imprison, remand, immure.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.