as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
were amazed by the squalid, cramped quarters in the town's historic bastille
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 bastille
For his part, Bowie celebrated the election by joining forces with John Barleycorn and evicting the residents of the local bastille.
—
Robert Kolarik, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Feb. 2018
In these wet, wooden bastilles in New York waters, more Americans died than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
Robert Kolarik, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Feb. 2018
In these wet, wooden bastilles in New York waters, more Americans died than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastille
Noun
-
She is being held on $500,000 bond, according to jail records reviewed by PEOPLE on May 30.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
31 May 2026
-
On Friday, a judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail, followed by 22 months of probation.—
Nick Lentz,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
Noun
-
Ali wakes up in the morning to find Rue in the living room, learning from the news that Fez broke out of prison and vowing to get him.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
1 June 2026
-
Erasures from his the poet’s journals narrate the speaker’s visit to his father in prison through the pinhole of what’s left of memory.—
Craig Morgan Teicher,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Mike Braun opened the Speedway Slammer at an Indiana prison, Jim Pillen opened the Cornhusker Clink at a Nebraska work camp, and Jeff Landry opened the Louisiana Lockup in a disused wing of Angola penitentiary.—
Eric Schlosser,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2026
-
This includes providing the Colombian military more leeway in the field, signing a new security agreement with Washington and building 10 mega-prisons that mimic Bukele’s network of penitentiaries in El Salvador.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bastille.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastille. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
