calaboose
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈkæl.əˌbuːs/
- Archaic
- With one stroke of this pen," Paul threatens, "I could write an order to Valdez, at the calaboose, to loosen your tongue.
Examples
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Over the years, we've tried several ingenious methods to break loose from the calaboose.
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So that's the kind of poker you play while I'm spending the night in the calaboose.
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Let's go to the calaboose.
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If I hadn't got thrown in the calaboose, Billy would have been there.
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"Why don't you knock some officer down and get stuck in the calaboose?"
Fiction book (2001) -
"Everybody's getting thrown in the calaboose," Ona said as she got out of the car.
Fiction book (1990) -
BRONCO BILLY: Sheriff, you've got one of my wranglers in your calaboose here.
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The prisoners had quotas for picking cotton, and if they did not reach those quotas, they were stripped down to underclothing, confined in an isolated tent the guards called the "kalabush," probably calaboose, and fed bread and water.
Academic text (2008) -
After the fight, he found himself spending a night in the calaboose for his actions.
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The old calaboose on the outskirts of town had not been used in years.
Synonyms
37
4.1
A building where police keep people who are waiting for trial or serving a sentence
5
9.9
A jail or prison where people go when they break the law
1
9.9
A small local jail where police hold people, often in the past
1
9.9
A place where people are kept after being arrested
1
9.9
An old British word for a prison or jail
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word calaboose comes from the Spanish word calabozo, which means 'dungeon' or 'jail'. So, calling a small local jail a calaboose is like saying it is a little 'dungeon'.