Jail vs. Prison

Jailnoun

A place or institution for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody or detention, especially for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.

Jailnoun

(uncountable) Confinement in a jail.

Jailnoun

(horse racing) 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).

Jailnoun

In dodgeball and related games, the area where players who have been struck by the ball are confined.

Jailnoun

A kind of sandbox for running a guest operating system instance.

Jailverb

To imprison.

Jailnoun

A kind of prison; a building for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody, especially for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.

Jailverb

To imprison.

Jailnoun

a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)

Jailverb

lock up or confine, in or as in a jail;

Prisonnoun

A place or institution of confinement, especially of long-term confinement for those convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered undesirable by the government.

Prisonnoun

(uncountable) Confinement in prison.

Prisonnoun

(colloquial) Any restrictive environment, such as a harsh academy or home.

Prisonverb

(transitive) To imprison.

Prisonnoun

A place where persons are confined, or restrained of personal liberty; hence, a place or state o confinement, restraint, or safe custody.

Prisonnoun

Specifically, a building for the safe custody or confinement of criminals and others committed by lawful authority.

Prisonverb

To imprison; to shut up in, or as in, a prison; to confine; to restrain from liberty.

Prisonverb

To bind (together); to enchain.

Prisonnoun

a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment

Prisonnoun

a prisonlike situation; a place of seeming confinement

Prison

A prison, also known as a jail or gaol (dated, British, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correctional facility, lock-up or remand center is a facility in which inmates (or prisoners) are confined and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as punishment for various crimes. Prisons are most commonly used within a criminal justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those pleading or being found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.