jail

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A place or institution for the confinement of persons held against their will in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.

   “serve time in jail”

   “released from jail”

   “jail sentence”

   “He was sent to jail for theft.”

   “She visited her brother in jail.”

2. (uncountable)Confinement in a jail.

   “He said Robins had not been in trouble with the law before and had no previous convictions. Jail would have an adverse effect on her and her three children as she was the main carer.”

3. (uncountable)The condition created by the requirement that a horse claimed in a claiming race not be run at another track for some period of time (usually 30 days).
4. (countable, uncountable)In dodgeball and related games, the area where players who have been struck by the ball are confined.
5. (uncountable, usually)A kind of sandbox for running a guest operating system instance.

verb

1. To imprison.

   “It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.”

   “A 22-year-old man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for fatally stabbing 22-year-old Tashan Daniel in an unprovoked attack at Hillingdon Underground station on September 24 2019.”