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
Synonyms
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
Eva Hartman, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2024
Loading your audio article Justin Timberlake was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of driving while intoxicated in the Hamptons; he was also cited for running a stop sign and was released after spending several hours in jail, several news outlets reported.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 18 June 2024
Anastacia Galouchka, Washington Post, 16 June 2024
By the end, Martha, who had already served a four-and-a-half-year jail term for a previous stalking conviction, is jailed for nine months.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for jail 
Noun
Advertisement Rock entered a no-contest plea on Friday ahead of sentencing, according to court records reviewed by The Times and was given jail time plus probation that, in part, prohibits her from being within 100 yards of Wright or the Novo.
—Eva Hartman, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2024
Loading your audio article Justin Timberlake was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of driving while intoxicated in the Hamptons; he was also cited for running a stop sign and was released after spending several hours in jail, several news outlets reported.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 18 June 2024
Verb
More than 2,750 men have been released from Ukrainian prisons since the parliament adopted a law in May authorizing certain convicts to enlist, including those jailed for dealing drugs, stealing phones and committing armed assaults and murders, among other serious crimes.
—Anastacia Galouchka, Washington Post, 16 June 2024
By the end, Martha, who had already served a four-and-a-half-year jail term for a previous stalking conviction, is jailed for nine months.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for jail
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near jail
Cite this Entry
“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jail. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
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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