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jailhouse

jailhouse

42 4.1
A building where police keep people who are waiting for trial or serving a sentence
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒeɪlˌhaʊs/
translation icon : cárcel
  • Portwood can finally look forward to a jailhouse visit from her daughter, Leah.

According to the texts from a source he described as a quote, jailhouse snitch.

Examples

  • Well, I'll visit you in the jailhouse.

  • I mean, who would be stupid enough to bring a weapon to a jailhouse?

    Fiction book (1997)
  • When I hear the jailhouse doors close behind me, girls.

  • And if they got somebody posted outside, you walk right on up to the jailhouse and just wave to me, will you?

  • A night in the jailhouse will probably teach him more than a month in the schoolhouse.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • No one would be surprised when he became a jailhouse casualty.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Michael arrived an hour later, after receiving his wife's phone call from the jailhouse.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The iron door clanged shut behind him with an impact that seemed to shake the stone jailhouse.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • In his charcoal Brioni suit, he looked incongruous but not uncomfortable in the jailhouse setting.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The lawyer met with her client inside the jailhouse to discuss the upcoming trial.

Synonyms

prison
vsjailhouse
1.0

A building where people are kept as punishment or while waiting for trial

covers both short and long detention, not only long-term punishment
jail
vsjailhouse
1.0

A building where people are kept as punishment or while waiting for their trial

is the same general building used by authorities to detain people
lockup
vsjailhouse
40 5.5

A small room in a police station where police keep people temporarily

is usually a full building for longer or official detention
slammer
vsjailhouse
  • Slang
32 9.8

A prison or jail where people are kept after arrest

is the formal building term rather than casual slang for confinement
state prison
vsjailhouse
  • US
27 4.3

A prison run by a state government for people found guilty of serious crimes

is a general detention building, not limited to a state-run facility
pokey
vsjailhouse
  • Slang
19 9.9

A small jail where people wait for trial or serve short sentences

covers both small short-term and larger longer-term detention buildings
clink
vsjailhouse
  • Informal
6 8.6

A prison or jail where people are kept by the police

is the neutral term used in formal descriptions of detention buildings
hoosegow
vsjailhouse
  • Archaic
5 9.9

A jail or prison where people go when they break the law

is the neutral institutional term rather than regional or slang usage
gaol
vsjailhouse
  • Archaic
2 8.9

A building that holds people as punishment for a crime

is the common modern term for that same detention building
correctional institution
vsjailhouse
  • Formal
2 4.9

A place where people who broke the law are kept as punishment or while they wait for trial

is the everyday term for the physical place where people are held
poky
vsjailhouse
  • Slang
1 9.9

A small, dirty local jail

is a neutral term not implying size or condition of the building
penal institution
vsjailhouse
  • Formal
1 6.3

A place like a prison where people are kept as punishment for crimes

is the simpler name for a single building used for detention
prison house
vsjailhouse
1 4.6

A building where people are held as punishment or while waiting for trial

focuses on the general detention building used by government authorities
penal facility
vsjailhouse
  • Formal
1 6.0

A building that holds people as punishment for crimes to protect the public

focuses on detention rather than the public protection purpose
bridewell
vsjailhouse
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A small local jail where police hold people, often in the past

is the neutral modern word for the same kind of building
hoosgow
vsjailhouse
  • Archaic
9.9

A place where people are kept after being arrested

is the standard, nonregional word for that detention building

Antonyms

1.0

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

How Secure

supermax
  • Specialized
12 7.9
penitentiary
  • US
73 7.9
prison
1.0
jailhouse
42 4.1
lockup
40 5.5
holding cell
33 4.1

Surface Forms

jailhouse singular
jailhouses plural

Morphology

jailhouse = jail + house (transparent) = jail + house

The meaning is directly the combination of 'jail' and 'house' (a building functioning as a jail), which is clear to learners.

Etymology

Jailhouse is simply jail + house, where jail comes from an old word for a 'cage' and house means a 'building'. So a jailhouse is a building where people are kept by the authorities, which explains its modern meaning.