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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To get there, Sodais climbed mountains in the snow, moved from border to border with the help of smugglers, got captured a dozen times and spent time in jail.
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Ábalos, who spent seven months in jail before his trial in April, is accused of taking kickbacks from the purchase of $60 million-worth of facemasks during the Covid pandemic.
Noun
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Two years ago, a judge freed Anthony Bailey after 27 years in the federal penitentiary, giving him a second chance at life.
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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.
Noun
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If convicted as charged, Wilburn faces up to 14 years in prison, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told CNN.
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Pope was a lieutenant in the Special Investigative Service (SIS) unit at the prison at the time of the offenses.
Cite this Entry
“Calaboose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calaboose. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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