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 Sandra Bland Act signed into law in 2017 requires that county jails help get inmates with mental health and substance abuse issues treatment, and help expedite the bailing process for those who meet these requirements. — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 July 2026

Today, there are more than sixty thousand people in ICE jails across the country, up from thirty-nine thousand in January, 2025. — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

The five-member Board of Supervisors is charged with approving settlements with the families of people who die or are injured in county jails. — Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026

The program was established by state lawmakers in 2018 as a way to help stem the tide of mental illness in jails and prisons, usually by dismissing cases and offering treatment for the underlying conditions behind a defendant’s arrest. — Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 6 July 2026

California releases data on the total number of people booked in jails monthly. — Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 6 July 2026

The goal is to eventually close the island to incarcerated individuals in a decarceration plan, replacing it with four other jails in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 30 June 2026

The borough jails won't be ready and Rikers' current population of about 6,700 inmates surpasses the 4,100-bed capacity of the new facilities. — Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 29 June 2026

Drone flights are also often limited around emergency response operations, jails, wildfires and major gatherings, including the current World Cup games. — Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 29 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