as in prisons
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
a sentence in the state penitentiary for robbery
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Recent Examples of penitentiaries
Behind bars in state penitentiaries in Gatesville and Marlin, Mejia felt forgotten.
—
Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026
The wave of prison violence is happening despite the deployment of military and police forces in several penitentiaries.
—Michael Rios, CNN Money, 8 Dec. 2025
After his conviction, Gray was sent to Angola, one of the most violent penitentiaries in the country at the time.
—Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 25 Aug. 2025
Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026
The wave of prison violence is happening despite the deployment of military and police forces in several penitentiaries.
—Michael Rios, CNN Money, 8 Dec. 2025
After his conviction, Gray was sent to Angola, one of the most violent penitentiaries in the country at the time.
—Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penitentiaries
Noun
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The Chinese government launched a brutal crackdown in Xinjiang starting in 2017, sweeping a million or more Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other predominantly Muslim ethnicities into prisons and internment camps.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
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López Aliaga, the ultraconservative former mayor of Peru’s capital, Lima, focuses on a hard-line security agenda, proposing to build prisons in the country’s Amazon region, allowing judges to conceal their identities and expelling foreigners who are living illegally in Peru.—
Franklin Briceño,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Researchers centered their work on areas where Fulton County has direct responsibility—courts, jails, elections, libraries and public health.—
Zachary Bynum,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
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Now, the island has 10 jails, and can house up to 17,000 prisoners, the city says.—
Amethyst Martinez,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Penitentiaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penitentiaries. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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