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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The man was released from jail a few days after his arrest on a $1,500 personal recognizance bond while his case is pending, court records show.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
13 Oct. 2025
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Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell weeks after his 2019 arrest.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If found guilty of a level 5 felony, Sanchez could be imprisoned anywhere from one to six years at an Indiana penitentiary and fined up to $10,000, according to the Indiana Code.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
12 Oct. 2025
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And Jack Henry Abbott, everyone was getting into his corner and trying to promote the idea that his art was reason enough for him to be released from the penitentiary.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The other defendant was handed 10 years in prison for spying on behalf of France, five years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime against national security, and 17 years of imprisonment for assisting Israeli intelligence services.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
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Co-directed by filmmaker Toia Bonino and incarcerated Marcos Joubert, Do or Die is a rare, intimate portrait of prison life and a meditation on cinema itself—filmed entirely on a phone behind bars.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calaboose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calaboose. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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