society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > reformatory prison > for women (3)
A house or building in which persons are employed in spinning. In reference to Continental usage: A house of correction or penitentiary for women.
(a) a building in which saltpetre is made or stored; (b) = French la Salpétrière, a hospital for aged and infirm women at Paris; formerly a prison…
(See quots. and cf. spin-house, n.)