Synonyms of jails

jails 1 of 2

noun

plural of jail

as in prisons

a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody

sentenced to three years in jail for his crime

Synonyms & Similar Words

• prisons
• penitentiaries
• brigs
• lockups
• stockades
• pens
• coops
• coolers
• cages
• big houses
• jugs
• dungeons
• bastilles
• tanks
• hocks
• guardrooms
• joints
• cells
• jailhouses
• cans
• clinks
• slammers
• pokeys
• nicks
• tolbooths
• quods
• bridewells
• stirs
• hoosegows
• slams
• calabooses
• wards
• holes
• holds
• hulks
• gulags
• guardhouses
• reformatories
• bull pens
• prison camps
• concentration camps
• labor camps
• work camps
• glasshouses
• keeps
• blocks
• reform schools
• training schools
• oubliettes
• stalags

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• outsides

jails

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of jail

as in imprisons

to put in or as if in prison

threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked

Synonyms & Similar Words

• imprisons
• interns
• incarcerates
• confines
• arrests
• detains
• commits
• locks (up)
• restrains
• gates
• jugs
• immures
• bars
• catches
• limits
• captures
• shuts
• apprehends
• restricts
• constrains
• impounds
• seizes
• binds
• keeps
• shackles
• holds
• pinches
• fetters
• busts
• impresses
• handcuffs
• enchains
• nabs
• picks up
• manacles
• shanghais
• trammels

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• discharges
• releases
• liberates
• frees
• enfranchises
• emancipates
• unchains
• unbinds
• unfetters
• uncages
• manumits

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of jails

Noun

The teams, which seek to stabilize people experiencing a psychiatric crisis without taking them to crowded jails and hospitals, have drawn support from first responders and county public health directors statewide. —Sacbee.com, 12 June 2026

His Green New Scam surrendered American Energy Dominance and, by abolishing the Southern Border, Biden let 21 million people from all over the World pour into the United States, including from prisons, jails, mental institutions, and insane asylums. —New York Times, 11 June 2026

Authorities say Mejia was employed by the county sheriff’s office — which operates the county jails — as a food service worker tasked with transporting food carts into and between the primary jail facilities, Elmwood and the Main Jail in San Jose. —Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 8 June 2026

But youth can be tried in adult courts and go to adult jails and prisons for certain crimes. —Jay Blitzman, The Conversation, 8 June 2026

In Guilford County, jails in Greensboro and High Point have climbed from holding 973 to 1,140. —Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 8 June 2026

Luna pointed out that crime went down during his first term, along with use-of-force episodes in the jails. —Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 4 June 2026

Each year, thousands of people leave Connecticut prisons and jails seeking employment, housing, transportation, health care, treatment services, and opportunities to reconnect with family and community. —Beth Hines, Hartford Courant, 4 June 2026

The Palm Beach Police Department has no jurisdiction over the county jails. —Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 4 June 2026

Verb

The facility is one of 11 Kentucky jails that contract with ICE to detain people. —Monroe Trombly, Louisville Courier Journal, 24 Feb. 2026

China, which jails human rights activists in Hong Kong, persecutes Uyghurs, has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and has committed genocide against the Falun Gong, is on the UN Human Rights Council. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026

The regime that jails children also profits from drugs, human trafficking, and online scams. —Kim Aris, Time, 7 Nov. 2025