jail 1 of 2

noun

ˈjāl How to pronounce jail (audio)
Definition of jailnext
as in prison
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody sentenced to three years in jail for his crime

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

jail

2 of 2

verb

as in to imprison
to put in or as if in prison threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of jail
Noun
Los Angeles County prosecutors made a deal with Jackson earlier this year that would send him to jail for 90 days and require him to serve two years of probation. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026 An anti-Israel protester who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of a pro-Israel demonstrator in California was sentenced to one year in county jail this week. — Anders Hagstrom, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
Verb
In 1999, authorities jailed Gadd for possessing child pornography. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2026 The composition of the bar changed dramatically as many Loyalist lawyers departed, others were jailed and younger lawyers assumed responsibilities previously held by members of the colonial establishment. — Joseph Andrew, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for jail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jail
  1. prison
  2. imprison
  3. penitentiary
  4. incarcerate
Noun
  • The pair, who were detained in March, had already spent four months in prison prior to the punishment, which ultimately reduced their sentence from 25 lashes to 21, the AP said.
    — Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
  • Taylor, 30, now faces a potential sentence of life in prison.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026
Definition of prison
Verb
  • Jackson said that made his relationship to his country more complicated, especially after he was convicted on drug and weapons charges as a 21-year-old and imprisoned for over a year.
    — Susan Bence, NPR, 4 July 2026
  • She was imprisoned multiple times between 2018 and 2020 during the investigation, spending nearly a year and a half in jail.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 4 July 2026
Definition of imprison
Noun
  • Two years ago, a judge freed Anthony Bailey after 27 years in the federal penitentiary, giving him a second chance at life.
    — Carrie Johnson, NPR, 23 June 2026
  • After a federal jury voted to convict him in early 2024, Hernández was sent to a notorious high-security penitentiary in West Virginia to serve his time.
    — Keri Blakinger, ProPublica, 11 June 2026
Definition of penitentiary
Verb
  • Morris went bankrupt, spectacularly, and spent the years 1798 to 1801 incarcerated in a Philadelphia debtors’ prison.
    — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026
  • The goal is to eventually close the island to incarcerated individuals in a decarceration plan, replacing it with four other jails in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.
    — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Definition of incarcerate

Browse Nearby Words

jags
jail
jailbird
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Cite this Entry

“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jail. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on jail

Nglish: Translation of jail for Spanish Speakers

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