1
: a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
specifically
: such a place under the jurisdiction of a local government (such as a county) for the confinement of persons awaiting trial or those convicted of minor crimes compare prison
2
: confinement in a jail
sentenced to jail
Examples of jail in a Sentence
Noun
He was locked up in the county jail.
He was arrested and sent to jail.
He went to jail for his crimes.
He just got out of jail a few weeks ago.
He was kept in jail overnight.
Verb
threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked
Recent Examples on the Web
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2025
Castellanos was kept in jail because there was no monitoring device for him — something out of Tyler’s control — and Chaplin was arrested at an unnamed law enforcement agency’s discretion, the vendor said.
—Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2025
Sara Georgini, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2025
Its focus is instead on two women who share little in common but the fact that their husbands are both jailed in the same facility.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
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Noun
He’s gone after organizations like Special Olympics and the Brevard Zoo with threats of funding cuts, sponsored legislation that could land public officials in jail for doing their jobs and pursued petty personal vendettas.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2025
Castellanos was kept in jail because there was no monitoring device for him — something out of Tyler’s control — and Chaplin was arrested at an unnamed law enforcement agency’s discretion, the vendor said.
—Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2025
Verb
What happened to the Hollywood Ten, a group of producers, directors and screenwriters who were jailed and blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947?
—Sara Georgini, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2025
Its focus is instead on two women who share little in common but the fact that their husbands are both jailed in the same facility.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
Cite this Entry
“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jail. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
jail
noun
: a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
specifically
: such a place under the jurisdiction of a local government (as a county) for the confinement of persons awaiting trial or those convicted of minor crimes compare house of correction, house of detention, lockup, penitentiary, prison
jail
transitive verb
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