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jailbirds

noun

plural of jailbird
as in prisoners
a person convicted as a criminal and serving a prison sentence had spent most of his sorry life as a jailbird in hoosegows across the South

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of jailbirds But these jailbirds aren’t using their own fingers to fire off missives or create clones. — Andrew Zucker, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jailbirds
  1. prisoners
  2. convicts
  3. inmates
Noun
  • Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland argues that artworks made by prisoners forced to do so in Nazi concentration camps are not their legal property.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Krieps played the notorious wife of a Nazi concentration camp commander, Ilsa Koch, who was said to torture prisoners and make household objects out of human skin.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of prisoners
Noun
  • Nor could Grossman write about collaborators or the punishment battalions composed of convicts that were used as cannon fodder (one of many parallels between the conduct of the Soviet army and the present-day Russian military in Ukraine).
    — Nick Holdstock, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026
  • He is listed among the two hundred convicts who arrived in Sydney aboard the barque Norfolk in August 1829.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Definition of convicts
Noun
  • The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled that accidental drug overdoses were the causes of two jail inmates’ deaths at John Peter Smith Hospital in April and June.
    — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Polk County has the first county jail in Iowa joining a nationwide education and life skills rehabilitation program for inmates with the goal of reducing recidivism and helping the community.
    — Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of inmates

Browse Nearby Words

jailbird
jailbirds
jailbreak
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Cite this Entry

“Jailbirds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jailbirds. Accessed 24 Sep. 2026.

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