as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
were amazed by the squalid, cramped quarters in the town's historic bastille
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Recent Examples of bastille
For his part, Bowie celebrated the election by joining forces with John Barleycorn and evicting the residents of the local bastille.
—
Robert Kolarik, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Feb. 2018
In these wet, wooden bastilles in New York waters, more Americans died than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
Robert Kolarik, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Feb. 2018
In these wet, wooden bastilles in New York waters, more Americans died than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastille
Noun
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Starting in the 1880s, the city and county each built a series of increasingly spacious jails—and then proceeded to fill them well above capacity each winter.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
21 Oct. 2025
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Grayson has been held in the Macon County jail ahead of his trial.—
Deena Zaru,
ABC News,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Regarding the lack of disciplinary records documenting policy violations, Payne placed blame on prison staff for failure to write Holt up for disciplinary violations.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Oct. 2025
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In August 2024, Lorincz was convicted on the manslaughter charge, and in November, a judge sentenced her to 25 years in prison.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Portlaoise Prison, which is in the center of Ireland, is a nineteenth-century penitentiary built like a fortress—a one-star establishment, at best.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
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If found guilty of a level 5 felony, Sanchez could be imprisoned anywhere from one to six years at an Indiana penitentiary and fined up to $10,000, according to the Indiana Code.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
12 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bastille.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastille. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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