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
CBS News, 20 Dec. 2025
New details are emerging about Nick Reiner's status in jail.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Dec. 2025
Somayeh Malekian, ABC News, 21 Dec. 2025
Marcos Jr has vowed to jail at least 37 congressmen and other officials responsible for the scams by Christmas, and seven have been thrown behind bars so far.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
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Noun
The escape came more than seven months after 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail.
—CBS News, 20 Dec. 2025
New details are emerging about Nick Reiner's status in jail.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Dec. 2025
Verb
Among those who were arrested this month were political activists including Sepideh Gholian, Hasti Amiri, Pouran Nazemi, Aliyeh Motallebzadeh -- who have been arrested, prosecuted or jailed for their activism before -- and Javad Alikordi, a brother of the deceased lawyer.
—Somayeh Malekian, ABC News, 21 Dec. 2025
Marcos Jr has vowed to jail at least 37 congressmen and other officials responsible for the scams by Christmas, and seven have been thrown behind bars so far.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 19 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 26 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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