as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
fittingly, the calaboose in that one-horse town consisted of a single cell
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Recent Examples of calaboose
Heritage Village includes an 1881 two-cell calaboose from Mokena, the 1856 Wells Corner one-room schoolhouse from Homer Glen, the 1863 Greenho farmhouse from Crest Hill, the 1881 Wabash railroad depot from Symerton and a Lockport smokehouse.
—
Jessi Virtusio, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2022
Lachenais was arrested and secured in the local calaboose, but a vigilance committee descended upon the jail and tore Lachenais out of his cell.
—Yxta Maya Murray, Longreads, 19 Aug. 2020
All Chenneville had to do was ride up on his horse, remove the smoking gun or bloody knife from the killer's hand, and drag him to the calaboose—the local jail, which was just down the hall from the police department.
—Skip Hollandsworth, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2016
Jessi Virtusio, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2022
Lachenais was arrested and secured in the local calaboose, but a vigilance committee descended upon the jail and tore Lachenais out of his cell.
—Yxta Maya Murray, Longreads, 19 Aug. 2020
All Chenneville had to do was ride up on his horse, remove the smoking gun or bloody knife from the killer's hand, and drag him to the calaboose—the local jail, which was just down the hall from the police department.
—Skip Hollandsworth, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calaboose
Noun
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In terms of refusal rate, Fairfax County trailed slightly behind all of the top non-cooperating jails in Los Angeles County combined, according to the detainer data.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Mar. 2026
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The suspect, Mariana Noriega, 23, was taken to the Maricopa County jail.—
Sydney Page The Washington Post,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Prisons employ hundreds of workers locally at two military facilities, the nation’s first federal penitentiary, a Kansas correctional facility and a county jail, all within six miles of City Hall.—
Heather Hollingsworth,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
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He was arrested again in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1961 and spent four months in a penitentiary where fellow Freedom Riders cried out in song each night.—
Veronica Ortega,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In 2023, Jalloh was sentenced to seven years in prison for malicious wounding, with five of those years suspended.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Mar. 2026
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Now, the man responsible is set to spend more than six decades in prison, according to Adams County court records.—
Lauren Penington,
Denver Post,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Calaboose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calaboose. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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