tolbooths

noun

plural of tolbooth, Scottish
as in jails
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody Deacon Brodie, thought to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was publicly hung at the site of the old tolbooth of Edinburgh

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tolbooths
  1. jails
  2. prisons
  3. penitentiaries
  4. big houses
Noun
  • They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Unlike prisons, jails are designed for short-term detention rather than prolonged confinement.
    — Jillian Turanovic, The Conversation, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of jails
Noun
  • Continue reading … CITY LIMITS – Mamdani clashes with Democratic Socialists' push to abolish police and prisons.
    — , FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • This is probably part of why, in 2024, the New York State Department of Corrections placed prisons on lockdown and let the guards watch the eclipse, but would not let tens of thousands of the imprisoned see it.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of prisons
Noun
  • Hodge says he was abused in multiple federal penitentiaries, but was frequently blocked from filing complaints about it.
    — Christie Thompson, NPR, 13 July 2026
  • This includes providing the Colombian military more leeway in the field, signing a new security agreement with Washington and building 10 mega-prisons that mimic Bukele’s network of penitentiaries in El Salvador.
    — Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2026
Definition of penitentiaries
Noun
  • Boomers stayed in the workforce longer than expected, retired later, and held on to big houses as starter homes disappeared beneath them.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 June 2026
  • However, a lot of big houses have been built on smallish lots.
    — Richard Dahlberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
Definition of big houses
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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tolbooth
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Cite this Entry

“Tolbooths.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tolbooths. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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