as in prison
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
sentenced to three years in jail for his crime
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to imprison
to put in or as if in prison
threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of jail
Ashlynd Baecht, The Frontier, 6 Jan. 2026
Each count carries a potential sentence of up to two years in jail if Gonzales is convicted.
—Dante Motley, Austin American Statesman, 6 Jan. 2026
Melina Khan, USA Today, 5 Jan. 2026
Those who weren’t dismissed were jailed or forced into exile.
—Bobby Ghosh, Time, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for jail
Noun
The Department of Corrections has struggled with a backlog of people awaiting transfer from county jails to state prisons in recent years.
—Verb
The only images of the pair were from outside the courthouse after being ferried by helicopter from Brooklyn, where they were jailed, to Manhattan.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for jail
Noun
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The Department of Justice said Steven Anthony Cowles, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.—
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The two counts of second-degree assault could carry up to seven years in prison each, if convicted.—
Verb
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Gillispie was released from prison in 2011, exonerated in 2017 and declared wrongfully imprisoned in 2021.—
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Cottingham, 79, has been imprisoned since his 1980 arrest.—
Noun
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But he was most likely transferred there to help publicize the new penitentiary, nicknamed The Rock.—
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James was on his way to pick up an immigrant in the federal penitentiary who had finished a criminal sentence.—
Verb
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During a weeklong program last month, incarcerated men at Valley State Prison in the Central Valley town of Chowchilla sat on metal folding chairs in a common area.—
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Price’s decision in December to play for women incarcerated in a Tennessee penitentiary underlines her feminist bond with royalty such as Loretta Lynn and June Carter Cash.—
Cite this Entry
“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jail. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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