Thesaurus results for JAILS

jails 1 of 2

noun

plural of jail

as in prisons

a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody sentenced to three years in jail for his crime

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outsides

jails

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of jail

as in imprisons

to put in or as if in prison threatened to jail the punks if they so much as jaywalked

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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 jails

Noun

Of the more than $3 billion that Miami-Dade plans to collect in property taxes next year, roughly 70 cents of every dollar fund the county’s Sheriff’s Office, fire department, jails, roads and transit costs, and Jackson, the Herald analysis found. — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026 In fact, in 2022, a year after the Humphrey decision, 74% of people in California jails were still unsentenced and awaiting trial. — Evelyn Ronan, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026 The devices have also been used in recent years by some jails. — Kathy McCormack, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026 In fact, a number of those heading into a sentencing hearing are coming from surrounding county jails that have been holding them for many months. — Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 The crimes homeless people will get charged for are not the ones that will keep them in the county’s already overcrowded jails, Lefkowitz said. — Laura Horne, Charlotte Observer, 17 Aug. 2026 The Gloves have not been widely used by police departments, according to the New York Times, but some have been deployed by county law enforcement and jails in the United States. — Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2026 They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments. — CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026 The gloves have been used by some jails and police departments. — Luke Barr, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026

Verb

The facility is one of 11 Kentucky jails that contract with ICE to detain people. — Monroe Trombly, Louisville Courier Journal, 24 Feb. 2026 China, which jails human rights activists in Hong Kong, persecutes Uyghurs, has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and has committed genocide against the Falun Gong, is on the UN Human Rights Council. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026 The regime that jails children also profits from drugs, human trafficking, and online scams. — Kim Aris, Time, 7 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for jails

Noun

Gangs destroyed three of Haiti’s main prisons in early 2024, and those still operating are severely overcrowded.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
Some of the most difficult positions to fill have been state troopers, correction officers in the prisons, and nurses in psychiatric hospitals.

— Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of prisons

Verb

The King imprisons the miller’s daughter in a room and orders her to prove her magical ability under pain of death.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
County leaders vowed to legally oppose the facility, pointing to county zoning laws that do not allow for detention centers or any type of facility that holds or imprisons people on county land.

— Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 28 May 2026

Definition of imprisons

Noun

Hodge says he was abused in multiple federal penitentiaries, but was frequently blocked from filing complaints about it.

— Christie Thompson, NPR, 13 July 2026
This includes providing the Colombian military more leeway in the field, signing a new security agreement with Washington and building 10 mega-prisons that mimic Bukele’s network of penitentiaries in El Salvador.

— Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2026

Definition of penitentiaries

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jails

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“Jails.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jails. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of jails

noun

verb

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