county jailn.
/ˌkaʊntɪ ˈdʒeɪl/, U.S. /ˌkaʊn(t)i ˈdʒeɪl/ Now chiefly U.S.
A prison serving a county, or one maintained by the county authorities.In the United States, a county jail is chiefly used to house prisoners awaiting trial or offenders serving short sentences. State or federal prisons house those convicted of offences carrying longer sentences.
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1642 Divers Remarkable Occurences 2 A worshipfull Citizen of London mude up in a Countie Gaole.
1699 in Documents Colonial Hist. New Jersey (1881) III. 480 Capt Isaac Whitehead was..examined about the breaking the Prison at Woodbridge being the County Goal for the County of Middlesex.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 164 They deserv'd to be sent to the County Jail.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. ii. 481 In case the bankrupt absconds..between the time of the commission issued, and the last day of surrender, he may by warrant..be committed to the county goal.
1820 Rules for Common Gaol County of Oxf. 6 The Governor of the County Gaol.
1885 W. S. Gilbert Mikado i. 9 Taken from the county jail By a set of curious chances.
1919 Rotarian Dec. 291/1 A grand jury investigation revealed a situation in the county jail the description of which does not lend itself to print.
1964 in R. D. Abrahams Deep down in Jungle ii. iv. 157 So they put me in the wagon and they took me on down to the county jail.
2009 New Yorker 14 Dec. 57/2 None of the convictions for statutory rape in Los Angeles County resulted in a sentence to state prison, although many defendants spent time in county jails.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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