cellmate

noun

cell·​mate ˈsel-ˌmāt How to pronounce cellmate (audio)
variants or less commonly cell mate
plural cellmates also cell mates
: a person who shares a prison cell with another prisoner
When his cellmates learned that his bond had been set at $1 million (and bail at $500,000), they broke into laughter and shook their heads in disbelief.Richard Behar
Within a week, guards came by at night and told me to get ready. … I said goodbye to my cellmates and gathered my things …Clare Morgana Gillis

Examples of cellmate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
An inmate already serving a potential life sentence for a Los Angeles County shooting pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for killing his cellmate three years ago at a Northern California prison. Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 23 Apr. 2026 Marcus Terry, 43, was found guilty of second-degree murder in December 2025 for killing his cellmate inside the Dade Correctional Institution in Homestead in 2021 by stabbing him in the head with a pen, according to NBC Miami. Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2026 And in San Diego County, 34-year-old Grant Parker fatally stabbed a man outside a downtown hotel in February while on diversion for threatening to kill his mother with a knife, carjacking and attacking a cellmate. Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 12 Apr. 2026 Marlowe and Shakespeare were just refreshers for me and also gave me a chance to act out monologues for my cellmates, much to their delight and confusion. Jeremy O. Harris, Vanity Fair, 1 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cellmate

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cellmate was in 1839

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Cite this Entry

“Cellmate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cellmate. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026.

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