as in prison
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 penitentiary
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
Video released by the prison shows large chunks of debris flying off the roof with what appears to be billows of black storm clouds above the penitentiary.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian glide bomb attack on a local penitentiary killed 17 inmates and wounded more than 80 others in one of the deadliest strikes in the region to date.
—Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025
A week into the blockade, Davis announced plans to put the migrants—many of them imprisoned in penitentiaries far from the state line—to work, assigning them to unpaid, forced manual labor like quarrying rock, sand and gravel for public projects.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for penitentiary
Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 25 Aug. 2025
Video released by the prison shows large chunks of debris flying off the roof with what appears to be billows of black storm clouds above the penitentiary.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian glide bomb attack on a local penitentiary killed 17 inmates and wounded more than 80 others in one of the deadliest strikes in the region to date.
—Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025
A week into the blockade, Davis announced plans to put the migrants—many of them imprisoned in penitentiaries far from the state line—to work, assigning them to unpaid, forced manual labor like quarrying rock, sand and gravel for public projects.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for penitentiary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penitentiary
Noun
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My dad would always play documentaries about prison life and stuff that would come on Discovery ID or, every now and then, even national news segments.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
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Through the deal, prosecutors dropped the two murder charges — and shipped Henry, 26, off to prison for 10 years — in exchange for his plea.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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North Little Rock police officer Tommy Norman, whose social media presence attracted millions of followers before his Saturday arrest on a domestic battery count, was released from jail Monday morning after posting a $350 bond, court records showed.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Sep. 2025
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Tahoe is obviously getting more aggressive with icon-shape enforcement, up to and including automatically manipulating them and sentencing them to icon jail.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Penitentiary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penitentiary. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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