jail

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Pronunciation 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Usage notes 1.4.2 Synonyms 1.4.3 Derived terms 1.4.4 Translations 1.5 Verb 1.5.1 Synonyms 1.5.2 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• gaol (British, Australian)

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English jaiole < Late Latin caveola < Latin cavea

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

• Rhymes: -eɪl

[edit] Noun

jail (countable and uncountable; plural jails)

1. A prison; a place of detention; a place where a person convicted or suspected of a crime is detained.
2. (uncountable) Confinement in a jail.
3. (slang) school

   I have to go to jail for 5 days per week.

4. (horse racing) The requirements that a horse claimed in a claiming race not be run at another track for (usually) 30 days.

[edit] Usage notes

• (prison): Like many nouns denoting places where people spend time, jail requires no article after certain prepositions: hence in jail (“‘detained in a jail’”), go to jail (“‘become detained in a jail’”), and so on. The forms in a jail, go to a jail, and so on do exist, but tend to imply mere presence in the jail, rather than detention there.

[edit] Synonyms

• big house
• hoosegow
• prison
• slammer

[edit] Derived terms

• jailbait
• jailbird
• jailbreak
• jailer
• jail sentence

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

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

1. To imprison.

[edit] Synonyms

• imprison

[edit] Translations