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jail cell

jail cell

47 1.5
A small room in a prison where guards keep prisoners
  • noun
  • /dʒeɪl sɛl/
: celda
  • The prison guard checked on the inmates in their jail cells every hour to ensure their safety.

He's in the jail cell with his Cartier glasses on.

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Examples

  • As he sits there in his filthy jail cell, he says, "He is our peace" (Eph. 2:14).

    Academic text (2014)
  • The solitary confinement jail cell contained a bed, which was basically a hard board, and a blanket.

    Blog text (6)
  • You should be able to sit in a jail cell and feel peace.

  • And not just because we spent last night in a jail cell.

  • What about his jail cell?

  • During my weekends there, I often thought of Robert, locked in his dark little jail cell with no view.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I was in a jail cell for forty-eight hours once.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Daphne is sitting on a bench in a jail cell.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Hoffman's jail cell was at the end of a hallway, and it was poorly lit.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • After the trial, he was taken back to his jail cell where he would wait for sentencing.

Synonyms

cell
vsjail cell
618 5.6

A small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held

is the common term for small rooms specifically in jails and prisons
holding cell
vsjail cell
39 4.1

A secure room in a police station where people wait briefly before going to court

is a usual confinement spot for a prisoner inside a jail or prison
prison cell
vsjail cell
34 2.7

A small locked room in jail for holding a person

is used for small rooms in both jail and prison contexts
tank
vsjail cell
  • Archaic
15 8.1

A jail cell for prisoners who are violent

is a general small holding room not only for violent inmates
detention cell
vsjail cell
3 4.4

A large room in a jail or police station where officers keep several people for a short time

is typically a single small room for one prisoner rather than many
sweatbox
vsjail cell
  • Archaic
1 9.3

A small narrow cell that holds a prisoner in hot, uncomfortable conditions as punishment

is a normal small room without the extra heat or narrowness

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

The right to act, speak, or think as you want without being stopped

How Small

cellblock
13 4.9
dormitory
2 3.0
jail cell
47 1.5
holding cell
39 4.1

Surface Forms

jail cell singular
jail cells plural

Morphology

jail + cell

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'jail' (a place holding prisoners) with 'cell' (a small locked room); the compound denotes the specific type of cell found in a jail. This noun+noun compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Jail cell comes from the old word cell, which meant a very small room—think of a monk's tiny private room or a small store room. A jail cell is that small room with bars where a person is kept, so the phrase means 'a small room in a jail or prison where a prisoner is held'.