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
Marcus D. Smith, Sacramento Bee, 26 May 2024
At the county Sheriff’s Department, 315 deputies are needed, although that’s not for patrol jobs, but for deputies to work in courtrooms and detention facilities, including the new Rock Mountain jail in Otay Mesa, which began housing some inmates last summer.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for jail 
Noun
Deputies identified the man as a resident of Fresh Pond, which is just east of Pollock Pines, and booked him into jail in Placerville.
—Marcus D. Smith, Sacramento Bee, 26 May 2024
At the county Sheriff’s Department, 315 deputies are needed, although that’s not for patrol jobs, but for deputies to work in courtrooms and detention facilities, including the new Rock Mountain jail in Otay Mesa, which began housing some inmates last summer.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 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 3 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share