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
Brooks was escorted to the calaboose and thrown into the main holding tank with the other prisoners.
—Skip Hollandsworth, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2016
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
Brooks was escorted to the calaboose and thrown into the main holding tank with the other prisoners.
—Skip Hollandsworth, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2016
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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Some former members of the fraternity were sentenced to several days in jail for providing alcohol at an initiation event to a minor, and Washington State University removed official recognition of the fraternity until May 2026.—
Alisha Ebrahimji,
CNN Money,
3 May 2025
-
He was convicted and died in jail while awaiting sentencing in 2023.—
Eric Shawn,
FOXNews.com,
3 May 2025
Noun
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Stroud was one of several notorious men who have called the Leavenworth penitentiary home.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
6 May 2025
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Although best known for its 29 years as a federal penitentiary, the island of Alcatraz was also a military fort, used by the army during the Civil War to protect San Francisco from Confederate raiders.—
Louise McLoughlin,
CNN Money,
5 May 2025
Noun
-
After 24 years in prison, Anderson was released on parole in 2023.—
Erin Moriarty, Liza Finley,
CBS News,
4 May 2025
-
The maximum punishment for the state charges is life in prison.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
3 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calaboose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calaboose. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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