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
CNN Money, 13 Dec. 2025
Jewel panicked, certain this was the moment they would be thrown into jail forever.
—Danielle Bacher, PEOPLE, 13 Dec. 2025
Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 13 Dec. 2025
The man was jailed for more than a month.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
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Noun
Bialiatski, a human rights advocate who founded Viasna, was in jail when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 along with the prominent Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties.
—CNN Money, 13 Dec. 2025
Jewel panicked, certain this was the moment they would be thrown into jail forever.
—Danielle Bacher, PEOPLE, 13 Dec. 2025
Verb
Hours later, he was jailed and eventually charged with home invasion and stalking.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 13 Dec. 2025
The man was jailed for more than a month.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 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 16 Dec. 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
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