penitentiary
73
7.9
- noun
- /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəri/
- US
:
penitenciaría
- Do you know anyone at the Kansas State Penitentiary?
- prisoners in penitentiaries
- a state penitentiary
- a federal penitentiary
He went to prison and he escaped a federal penitentiary in the state of Alabama, fled the country.
- He went to prison and he escaped a federal penitentiary in the state of Alabama, fled the country.
- Later on, instead of prisons, they got called penitentiaries, and then some of them got called reformatories.
- Zazi, as well as I think six of his compatriots, are now doing time in a federal penitentiary.
- And it's interesting because he talks about the American penitential system in this as well, the American penitentiary system.
- And then I got taken to the state penitentiary in Huntington, and I wasn't allowed to speak in my cell for the first two years in that prison.
- What's Seabrook penitentiary down in See what is Seabrook?
- Right now, penitentiaries are gang run by gangs and they're killing fields.
- Like he was like gang member, like straight, like Cal, you know, like that Cali, that Cali penitentiary life with some crazy shit too.
Examples
-
He'd also spent time in Iowa State Penitentiary on a charge of armed robbery.
Fiction book (2001) -
Ray served seven years in the Missouri State Penitentiary for armed robbery.
Academic text (2010) -
Five years in the state penitentiary at Sing Sing.
-
You want to spend the next 20 years in a federal penitentiary, starting tonight?
-
"Of course you know he ended up in the penitentiary for killing a man.
Fiction book (1998) -
Is it worth going back to the penitentiary, Chuck?
-
You actually want to go to Rossmore Penitentiary?
-
Anyone who commits a murder on the theory that it does exist... ...has just bought himself room and board in the state penitentiary, maybe for life.
-
He was sentenced to three years in the penitentiary of Leavenworth.
-
He was sentenced to ten years in the federal penitentiary for drug trafficking.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A building where people are kept as punishment or while waiting for trial
42
9.4
An informal word for prison where people serve time
42
4.1
A building where police keep people who are waiting for trial or serving a sentence
27
4.3
A prison run by a state government for people found guilty of serious crimes
10
4.2
A building like a prison where people are kept as punishment and given training
2
4.9
A place where people who broke the law are kept as punishment or while they wait for trial
1
6.3
A place like a prison where people are kept as punishment for crimes
1
4.1
A place where people found guilty of crimes are kept and given help to change their behaviour
1
4.6
A building where people are held as punishment or while waiting for trial
1
6.0
A building that holds people as punishment for crimes to protect the public
Antonyms
How Secure
- Specialized
12
7.9
- US
73
7.9
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
- UK
36
4.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Penitentiary comes from the Latin word paenitentia 'repentance' and is related to the English word penitent. Think of it as a place where people were sent to 'feel sorry' and change their ways, which is why today a penitentiary means a prison for people convicted of serious crimes.