bastille

bas·tille

noun \ba-ˈstē(ə)l\

Definition of BASTILLE

: prison, jail

Examples of BASTILLE

1. <were amazed by the squalid, cramped quarters in the town's historic bastille>

Origin of BASTILLE

French bastille, from the Bastille, fortress in Paris, from Middle French bastille, modification of Old Occitan bastida fortified town, from bastir to build, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German besten to patch

First Known Use: 1741

Related to BASTILLE

Synonyms

jail, big house [slang], bridewell, brig, calaboose, can, clink [slang], cooler, coop, guardroom, hock, hold, hoosegow, jailhouse, joint [slang], jug, lockup, nick [British slang], pen, penitentiary, pokey [slang], prison, quod [British slang], slam, slammer, stir [slang], stockade, tolbooth [Scottish]

Related Words

bull pen, cage, cell, hole, tank; block, ward; glasshouse [British], guardhouse, hulk(s); concentration camp, gulag, labor camp, prison camp, stalag, work camp; dungeon, keep, oubliette; reformatory, reform school, training school

Near Antonyms

outside

Rhymes with BASTILLE

aiguille, all-wheel, anneal, appeal, big deal, big wheel, bilge keel, bonemeal, bonspiel, cam wheel, Castile, cartwheel, chainwheel, chenille, cogwheel, conceal, congeal, cornmeal, done deal, eared seal, enwheel, fifth wheel, fish meal, flywheel, forefeel, for real, four-wheel, freewheel, fur seal, genteel, get real, good deal, great seal, handwheel, harp seal, ideal, inchmeal, mild steel, mill wheel, misdeal, mobile, Mobile, monk seal, mouthfeel, New Deal, newsreel, nosewheel, oatmeal, O'Neal, pastille, piecemeal, pinwheel, prayer wheel, raw deal, repeal, reveal, schlemiel, self-heal, side-wheel, singspiel, somedeal, spike heel, stabile, tahsil, Tar Heel, thumbwheel, unreel, unseal, worm wheel