as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
joked about the time he passed out on the street and woke up in the pokey
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of pokey
The Embraceable Bra provides the support of underwire cups without an uncomfortably firm or pokey feeling.
—
Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 15 Dec. 2023
Dropping the hammer from a stop gets it to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds, which opens plenty of opportunities for maneuvering around traffic's pokey dullards.
—Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 31 May 2023
Sir Paul Smith, one of London’s most respected menswear designers and tailors, started his eponymous label in a pokey shop in Nottingham in 1970 but now has 130 boutiques and counting across the globe.
—Mario Abad, Robb Report, 26 May 2023
That harks back to the stagecoach or pokey train eras when a governor could be incommunicado for days or weeks.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for pokey 
Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 15 Dec. 2023
Dropping the hammer from a stop gets it to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds, which opens plenty of opportunities for maneuvering around traffic's pokey dullards.
—Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 31 May 2023
Sir Paul Smith, one of London’s most respected menswear designers and tailors, started his eponymous label in a pokey shop in Nottingham in 1970 but now has 130 boutiques and counting across the globe.
—Mario Abad, Robb Report, 26 May 2023
That harks back to the stagecoach or pokey train eras when a governor could be incommunicado for days or weeks.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for pokey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pokey
Noun
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Johnson was arrested on July 17 and bonded out of jail five days later, officials with the sheriff’s office said.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 Jan. 2025
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Deterring criminal behavior With clear penalties, including fines and jail time, this legislation will serve as a deterrent to anyone contemplating unlawful occupancy of another person’s home.—
Ryan Nawrocki,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Biden also commuted the sentence of Michelle West, who was sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed between 1987 and 1993.—
Brett Samuels,
The Hill,
19 Jan. 2025
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He was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and served eight years in prison.—
Colleen Long,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In 2015, Ulbricht was handed a life sentence for his involvement in the enterprise and is currently incarcerated at a high-security penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona.—
Kristen Waggoner,
Newsweek,
21 Jan. 2025
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He was freed on parole from the Terre Haute, Indiana, federal penitentiary on Nov. 30, 1948, after serving 32 months of his five-year prison sentence.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near pokey
Cite this Entry
“Pokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pokey. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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