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

Under the ordinance, all healthcare facilities will be required to allow the partners of a patient to visit, as will jails in the city’s jurisdiction. — Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Pressure to address the conditions in the juvenile jails intensified this summer after a June 21 violent clash at Horizon in Mott Haven between the detainees and staff, in which 11 were stabbed and 15 hospitalized, according to a Council report. — Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 1 Nov. 2026

His office published statistics showing that the county jails were overwhelmingly filled with undocumented immigrants as proof of their criminality. — Michael Kiefer, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2026

Unlike municipalities, Florida sheriffs offices and county jails were mandated to sign 287(g) agreements. — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2026

And the administration persuaded more and more local police and jails to carry out the president’s mass deportation campaign, sweeping still more immigrants into custody. — Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2026

In 2019, the New York City Council voted to close the island's facilities and replace them with four smaller jails throughout the five boroughs by August 2027. — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 8 Oct. 2026

Ship jails are typically hidden away on a lower level deck so most passengers never see them. — Meena Thiruvengadam, Travel + Leisure, 24 Sep. 2026

Some jails have staff members or volunteers teach courses, as well, Beal said. — Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 22 Sep. 2026

Verb

Only 65 people rebooked into those counties’ jails two or more times through June 2026 were eventually released on bond. — Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 27 Aug. 2026

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