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
Rick Jervis, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
But even from jail, Mendoza figured out how to control her.
—ProPublica, 13 Sep. 2025
Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025
Lula was imprisoned in 2018, but he was released in November 2019 after the Supreme Court ruled that defendants can’t be jailed before exhausting appeal options.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 12 Sep. 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
Robinson was being held in Utah County jail.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
But even from jail, Mendoza figured out how to control her.
—ProPublica, 13 Sep. 2025
Verb
But the friendship fell apart earlier this year when Farage refused to echo Musk’s support for Robinson, the founder of the now-defunct anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL), who was previously jailed for being in contempt of court by repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025
Lula was imprisoned in 2018, but he was released in November 2019 after the Supreme Court ruled that defendants can’t be jailed before exhausting appeal options.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 12 Sep. 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 Sep. 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