as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
fittingly, the calaboose in that one-horse town consisted of a single cell
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Recent Examples of calaboose
Heritage Village includes an 1881 two-cell calaboose from Mokena, the 1856 Wells Corner one-room schoolhouse from Homer Glen, the 1863 Greenho farmhouse from Crest Hill, the 1881 Wabash railroad depot from Symerton and a Lockport smokehouse.
—
Jessi Virtusio, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2022
Lachenais was arrested and secured in the local calaboose, but a vigilance committee descended upon the jail and tore Lachenais out of his cell.
—Yxta Maya Murray, Longreads, 19 Aug. 2020
All Chenneville had to do was ride up on his horse, remove the smoking gun or bloody knife from the killer's hand, and drag him to the calaboose—the local jail, which was just down the hall from the police department.
—Skip Hollandsworth, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2016
Jessi Virtusio, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2022
Lachenais was arrested and secured in the local calaboose, but a vigilance committee descended upon the jail and tore Lachenais out of his cell.
—Yxta Maya Murray, Longreads, 19 Aug. 2020
All Chenneville had to do was ride up on his horse, remove the smoking gun or bloody knife from the killer's hand, and drag him to the calaboose—the local jail, which was just down the hall from the police department.
—Skip Hollandsworth, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calaboose
Noun
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North Little Rock police officer Tommy Norman, whose social media presence attracted millions of followers before his Saturday arrest on a domestic battery count, was released from jail Monday morning after posting a $350 bond, court records showed.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Sep. 2025
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Tahoe is obviously getting more aggressive with icon-shape enforcement, up to and including automatically manipulating them and sentencing them to icon jail.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Arcángela and Serafina remain in the women’s penitentiary, continuing to operate illicit businesses and accumulating wealth, but without hope of freedom.—
Isabella Wandermurem,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
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Prisoners look out of their cell at maximum security penitentiary CECOT (Center for the Compulsory Housing of Terrorism) on April 4 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador.—
Dan Gooding,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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My dad would always play documentaries about prison life and stuff that would come on Discovery ID or, every now and then, even national news segments.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
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Through the deal, prosecutors dropped the two murder charges — and shipped Henry, 26, off to prison for 10 years — in exchange for his plea.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calaboose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calaboose. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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