jailhouses
/ˈdʒeɪlˌhaʊzɪz/
NOUN
1. Buildings used as jails or prisons
Buildings or facilities where people are detained under legal authority, including those awaiting trial or serving sentences.
1.1. Prisons and detention facilities
Buildings or institutions used to hold people in legal custody or confinement.
Synonyms
- jails
- prisons
- gaols
- penitentiaries
- lockups
- correctional facilities
- penal institutions
- bridewells
- brigs
- reformatories
- stockades
- tolbooths
Examples
- The old jailhouses were renovated to improve security and living conditions.
- Several historical jailhouses have been preserved as museums.
Related Words
- prisoner
- inmate
- detainee
- warden
- jailer
- prison guard
- incarceration
- detention
- confinement
- custody
1.2. Informal and slang terms for prisons
Colloquial or slang expressions referring to jails, prisons, or places of confinement.
Synonyms
- slammers
- clinks
- pokeys
- stirs
- joints
- jugs
- cans
- coolers
- hoosegows
- calabooses
- big houses
- pens
- cages
- coops
- holes
- dungeons
- nicks
- quods
Examples
- The documentary explored the history of notorious slammers across the country.
- Stories about escapes from the old clinks circulated among the townspeople.
Related Words
- behind bars
- doing time
- prison cell
- lockup
- incarceration
- imprisonment
- confinement