DictionaryAI

jail

JAYL/d͡ʒeɪ(ə)l/

Pluraljails

Verbjails, jailing, jailed

UK spellinggaol · dated

6 meanings of jail

Practice

  1. 1
    place of custodynouncountable or uncountable
    A place or institution where people are held against their will in lawful custody; in US usage, especially one for minor offenses or for people awaiting a court hearing or trial.

    The county jail was overcrowded with people awaiting trial.

    He was booked into the city jail on a minor charge.

    UsageNo article when the purpose is meant: go to jail, in jail, out of jail. The jail usually means the building.

    Similarslammer, hoosegow, prison

  2. 2
    prison timenoununcountable
    The condition of being held as a prisoner in a jail.

    Repeat offenders in this state often face jail rather than a fine.

    She avoided jail by agreeing to community service.

    UsageWith no article, often after face, avoid or escape: she avoided jail.

    Similarimprisonment, incarceration, custody, detention

    Oppositefreedom, liberty

    Note

    Here jail is the confinement, often as a punishment, rather than the building. The place itself is somewhere you are sent, while this jail is something a court can weigh against a fine.

  3. 3
    imprisonverbtransitive
    To confine someone in a jail as a prisoner; to imprison.

    Authorities can jail protesters who refuse to disperse.

    The regime jailed thousands of dissidents during the crackdown.

    UsageOften jailed for a length of time or a crime: jailed for life, jailed for fraud. Common in news reports.

    Similarimprison, incarcerate, detain, confine, intern

    Oppositerelease, free, liberate

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    dodgeballnouncountable or uncountable
    In dodgeball and similar games, the marked area where players sent out after being hit by the ball must wait.

    Three players were stuck in jail waiting for a catch to free them.

    He sprinted back from jail the moment his teammate made the catch.

  2. 5
    noun
    An isolated section of an operating system, as in FreeBSD, in which programs run walled off from the rest of the system while sharing its kernel.
  3. 6
    noun
    In claiming races, the period (typically thirty days) during which a newly claimed horse is barred from running at any other track.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Middle English gayole, from Old French gaiole, from Medieval Latin gabiola and Late Latin caveola ("little cage"), a diminutive of Latin cavea ("cavity, coop, cage"). It is a doublet of caveola and related to "cage".

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 6 facts