jail

/d͡ʒeɪl/

jail noun: a place or institution for the confinement of persons held against their will in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.

Noun

jail (countable and uncountable, plural jails)

A place or institution for the confinement of persons held against their will in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.
- serve time in jail
- released from jail
Synonyms:

slammer, hoosegow
(uncountable) Confinement in a jail.
- He said Robins had not been in trouble with the law before and had no previous convictions. Jail would have an adverse effect on her and her three children as she was the main carer.2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian
(uncountable) The condition created by the requirement that a horse claimed in a claiming race not be run at another track for some period of time (usually 30 days).
In dodgeball and related games, the area where players who have been struck by the ball are confined.
(uncountable, usually) A kind of sandbox for running a guest operating system instance.

Verb

jail (third-person singular simple present jails, present participle jailing, simple past and past participle jailed)

(transitive) To imprison, incarcerate, enjail.
- It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
- A 22-year-old man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for fatally stabbing 22-year-old Tashan Daniel in an unprovoked attack at Hillingdon Underground station on September 24 2019.2020 September 9, “Network News: Man jailed for Hillingdon murder”, in Rail, page 25

jail meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

jail in Hindi

place for short-term confinement: कारागार kārāgār, बन्दीघर bandīghar, जेल jel, क़ैदख़ाना qaidxānā

jail in Tamil

சிறைச்சாலை

jail in Marathi

jail, prison: तुरुंग turuṅga

jail in Urdu

place for short-term confinement: کاراگار kārāgār, بندیگھر bandīghar, جیل jēl, قیدخانہ qaidxānā

More languagesFewer languages

jail in Bengali: কয়েদখানা koẏedkhana
jail in Telugu: కృష్ణజన్మస్థానము kr̥ṣṇajanmasthānamu, కృష్ణజన్మస్థలము kr̥ṣṇajanmasthalamu
jail in Malayalam: ജയിൽ jayil
jail in Kannada: ಕತ್ತಲೆಮನೆ, ಜೈಲು, ಕಾರಾಗೃಹ, ಸೆರೆಮನೆ
jail in Punjabi: ਜੇਲ੍ਹ jelh
jail in Gujarati: કેદખાનું kedkhānũ, જેલ jel, કેદ ked
jail in Odia: ଜେଲ jela
jail in Tagalog: piitan
jail in Arabic: سِجْن sijn, حَبْس ḥabs
jail in Malay: penjara
jail in Indonesian: penjara, bui, kurungan, rumah tahanan
jail in Persian: زندان zendân, حبسخانه habsxâne, بندیخانه bandixâne
jail in Thai: คุก kúk
jail in Vietnamese: nhà tù, nhà tạm giam
jail in Myanmar: အကျဉ်း a.kyany:

Examples of jail in a sentence

He was sent to jail for theft.
She visited her brother in jail.
"Ugly, if you think the world is coming to an end," he says, "what are you wasting your time here at this jail for?1966, Robert Coover, “Part II, section 11”, in The Origin of the Brunists, 1st edition, page 218:
“I’m out!” That, of course, is an excerpt from Robert Durst’s children’s books [sic], Goodbye Jail.2015 June 7, “Bail”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 16, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
No one should be jailed or attacked because they are apart of the lgbtq^([sic]) community.2026 July 11 (last accessed), anonymous author, Queering the Map, Onwe, Ashanti Region, Ghana, 6°40'54.9"N 1°25'34.3"W:

All 40 example sentences with jail

Synonyms of jail

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of jail

Forms of jail

Noun
plural	jails
alternative UK (dated)	gaol
Verb
third-person singular present	jails
present participle	jailing
past participle	jailed
past	jailed

Plural of jail: jails

Origin of jail

Inherited from Middle English gayole, borrowed from Anglo-Norman jaiole, from Late Latin caveola, from Latin cavea (“cage”) + -ola (diminutive ending). Doublet of caveola and related to cage. More at cajole. Fully displaced native Middle English quartern (“prison, jail, cell”), from Old English cweartern (“jail, prison”). Partially displaced native Middle English lok, from Old English loc (“enclosure, pen; jail, prison”), whence lock; and Middle English carcern, from Old English carcern, from Latin carcer (“prison, jail”). Compare these Old English words, all meaning “jail”: heaþor, heolstorloca (means also “jail cell”), clūstorloc, dung (also “dungeon”), hlinræced, nirwþ, nīedcleofa, hearmloca, and nearu.

Phrases with jail

Words that rhyme with jail

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about jail

What does jail mean?: Jail means a place or institution for the confinement of persons held against their will in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.
What is jail in Hindi?: Jail in Hindi is कारागार (kārāgār), बन्दीघर (bandīghar), जेल (jel). See Jail meaning in Hindi.
How do you use jail in a sentence?: He was sent to jail for theft.
What part of speech is jail?: Jail can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce jail?: Jail is pronounced /d͡ʒeɪl/.
What is the plural of jail?: The plural of jail is jails.

Words near jail in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gaol.wav, En-us-jail.ogg.

Cite this entry: “jail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.