prison

1 a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody the ongoing debate whether drug users should go to prison Synonyms bastille, big house [slang], bridewell, brig, calaboose, can, clink [slang], cooler, coop, guardroom, hock, hold, hoosegow, jailhouse, joint [slang], jug, lockup, nick [British slang], pen, penitentiary, pokey [slang], jail, quod [British slang], slam, slammer, stir [slang], stockade, tolbooth [Scottish]Related Words bull pen, cage, cell, hole, tank; block, ward; glasshouse [British], guardhouse, hulk(s); concentration camp, gulag, labor camp, prison camp, stalag, work camp; dungeon, keep, oubliette; reformatory, reform school, training schoolNear Antonyms outside

2 the act of confining or the state of being confined the view that prison does nothing to cure the criminal—if anything, it makes him worse Synonyms captivity, confinement, immurement, impoundment, imprisonment, incarceration, internmentRelated Words bondage, enslavement, servitude; restraint, restriction; arrest, capture, entrapment; custody, detainer, detainment, detention, house arrestNear Antonyms emancipation, liberation, manumission, redemption, release; freedom, independence, liberty