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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When the pandemic came, the sisters were no longer allowed inside McHenry jail.—
Nell Salzman,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Jan. 2025
-
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
Noun
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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
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People was sentenced to 111 years in prison for robbing banks in Indiana, and had already served more than two decades in prison.—
Luke Garrett,
NPR,
19 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Ultimately, Hazzard was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to perform hard labor at a state penitentiary in Walla Walla, Wash.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
5 Jan. 2025
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Kingstown follows the powerful family in a fictional Michigan town: Kingstown, Michigan, a city whose main industry is nine penitentiaries.—
Jackie Strause,
The Hollywood Reporter,
18 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near pokey
Cite this Entry
“Pokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pokey. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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