1
: a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
specifically
: such a place under the jurisdiction of a local government (such as a county) for the confinement of persons awaiting trial or those convicted of minor crimes compare prison
2
: confinement in a jail
sentenced to jail
Examples of jail in a Sentence
Noun
He was locked up in the county jail.
He was arrested and sent to jail.
He went to jail for his crimes.
He just got out of jail a few weeks ago.
He was kept in jail overnight.
Verb
threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked
Recent Examples on the Web
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 20 May 2025
The attack lands him behind bars, not for the first time, with his seven-month jail stint an interstice covered by the first of Dickinson’s vertiginous reality-break sequences.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 May 2025
Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 20 May 2025
Donald had also been jailed on weapon possession charges.
—Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
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Noun
Seven inmates are still at large on May 19 after escaping from a New Orleans jail through a hole behind a toilet.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 20 May 2025
The attack lands him behind bars, not for the first time, with his seven-month jail stint an interstice covered by the first of Dickinson’s vertiginous reality-break sequences.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 May 2025
Verb
Combs has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest.
—Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 20 May 2025
Donald had also been jailed on weapon possession charges.
—Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for jail
Cite this Entry
“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jail. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
jail
noun
: a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
specifically
: such a place under the jurisdiction of a local government (as a county) for the confinement of persons awaiting trial or those convicted of minor crimes compare house of correction, house of detention, lockup, penitentiary, prison
jail
transitive verb
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