calabooses

noun

plural of calaboose
as in jails
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody fittingly, the calaboose in that one-horse town consisted of a single cell

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for calabooses
  1. jails
  2. penitentiaries
  3. prisons
Noun
  • That’s where the 70-story new tower comes in, generating not only profits for the developer but also a stream of tax dollars that could support the old tower — money that would otherwise go to fund county police, jails, parks and transit.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Several other contractors’ jails and treatment centers across the state are referenced by name in the lawsuit.
    — Paige Pfleger, ProPublica, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of jails
Noun
  • Hodge says he was abused in multiple federal penitentiaries, but was frequently blocked from filing complaints about it.
    — Christie Thompson, NPR, 13 July 2026
  • This includes providing the Colombian military more leeway in the field, signing a new security agreement with Washington and building 10 mega-prisons that mimic Bukele’s network of penitentiaries in El Salvador.
    — Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2026
Definition of penitentiaries
Noun
  • Reports also describe people in prisons and jails around the country being routinely beaten, among other abuse.
    — Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The lawsuit over healthcare for incarcerated people covers Arizona’s nine state-run prisons but not the nearly 10,000 Arizona inmates held in private prisons.
    — Jacques Billeaud, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of prisons
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.

Browse Nearby Words

calaboose
calabooses
calamities
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Cite this Entry

“Calabooses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calabooses. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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