jail

CEFRB1

/d͡ʒeɪl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A place where people are kept as punishment or before trial.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Confinement in a jail.

Examples

  • By the time you get out of jail, she'll probably have gotten married.

  • In the end, he landed in jail.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. 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).

  2. 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.

  3. In dodgeball and related games, the area where players who have been struck by the ball are confined.

More examples

In context

  • She spent a year in jail.

  • serve time in jail

  • jail sentence

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After the crime, the criminal was put in blank for five years.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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, hearm...