bastille

noun

ba-ˈstēl How to pronounce bastille (audio)
Definition of bastillenext
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

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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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastille
  1. jail
  2. prison
  3. penitentiary
Noun
  • Detectives arrested Ramon without incident and booked him into county jail.
    — Jason Green, Mercury News, 10 July 2026
  • Madden, McQuillion and Nelson are each out of custody, according to jail records.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 9 July 2026
Definition of jail
Noun
  • The data, compiled by ICE and processed by a UC Berkeley Law School initiative, sheds light on how the agency has operated in Sacramento, where dozens of arrests have taken place downtown and through administrative transfers at prisons.
    — Mathew Miranda July 9, Sacbee.com, 10 July 2026
  • One of them, a 25-year-old Antioch man, is serving a prison sentence in an unrelated Walnut Creek shooting.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 10 July 2026
Definition of prison
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

Browse Nearby Words

bastes
bastille
bastilles
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Cite this Entry

“Bastille.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastille. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on bastille

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about bastille

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