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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Recent Examples of pokey
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
But the laptop's main problem is its pokey hardware performance.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 15 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for pokey 
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
But the laptop's main problem is its pokey hardware performance.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 15 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for pokey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pokey
Noun
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Juan Carlos Garcia has been booked into the Williamson County Jail with a $2 million bond, according to jail records.Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
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Another major focus of the trial was Allen's multiple confessions in jail and his mental health at the time.Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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She was sentenced in June of this year to one year in prison for underreporting and failing to file federal income taxes.Jim Talamonti | The Center Square contributor, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 20 Dec. 2024
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Joel Cordero, 45, of Meriden, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to a total of 155 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking heroin and fentanyl, according to federal authorities.Staff report, Hartford Courant, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Hollinger’s affairs proved to be a total mess: Black was later convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice and spent more than three years in a federal penitentiary.Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
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From a federal penitentiary in Virginia, Jose Landa-Rodriguez reconnected with an old friend in California.Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near pokey
Cite this Entry
“Pokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pokey. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
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