as in prison
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
sentenced to three years in jail for his crime
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to imprison
to put in or as if in prison
threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of jail
Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 8 Feb. 2026
Fagans was released from jail after posting $150,000 bail, court records show.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
Julianna Duennes Russ, Austin American Statesman, 4 Feb. 2026
The Danish government also announced last week that non-Danish citizens jailed for a year or more for serious crimes could be deported.
—Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for jail
Noun
At least two of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims had ties to Colorado, including one woman who was living in a tent with her dog in Durango when Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019.
—Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 8 Feb. 2026
Fagans was released from jail after posting $150,000 bail, court records show.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
Verb
Stevenson remains jailed at the Howard Young Correctional Institution after failing to post a $500,000 bail.
—Julianna Duennes Russ, Austin American Statesman, 4 Feb. 2026
The Danish government also announced last week that non-Danish citizens jailed for a year or more for serious crimes could be deported.
—Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for jail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jail
Noun
-
Given his age, the prison term still could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.—
Kanis Leung,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Hong Kong — Former Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, ending a years-long legal battle that has come to define Beijing’s transformational crackdown on the once-freewheeling financial hub.—
Chris Lau,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Mohammadi suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her supporters say.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Guanipa, like many others, was imprisoned on accusations widely believed to be politically motivated.—
Regina Garcia Cano,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Author Ta-Nehisi Coates, an 8-year-old in West Baltimore at the time of the murder, offers piercing commentary on the impact of both the initial crime and the succeeding one, the grievously unjust trial that put three kids in the penitentiary.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Central Time Wednesday following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Immersion Fellowship for their work with women incarcerated in county jails.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
-
While incarcerated, that previous operator had more than 460 calls with Solomon in the past year alone, the report said.—
Sasha Pezenik,
ABC News,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Jail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jail. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
