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
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
Gina Barton, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2025
David Castro, with a long history of drug use, has been in Santa Clara County jail awaiting trial since he was arrested in 2023.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2025
Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
Jelly, who was first arrested at 14 years old, has been jailed more than 40 times throughout his life on multiple drug offenses.
—Emlyn Travis, EW.com, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
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.
Noun
More than 21,000 people died in local jails and state prisons in four years, according to records the government has hidden from public view since 2021.
—Gina Barton, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2025
David Castro, with a long history of drug use, has been in Santa Clara County jail awaiting trial since he was arrested in 2023.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2025
Verb
From elsewhere The immigrant families jailed in Texas [New Yorker]
My former colleague Jack Herrera reports that under the Trump administration, ICE is jailing families who have lived in the U.S. for years and is sending them to Texas.
—Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
Jelly, who was first arrested at 14 years old, has been jailed more than 40 times throughout his life on multiple drug offenses.
—Emlyn Travis, EW.com, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
Cite this Entry
“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jail. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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