Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British Variant of jail.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Obsolescent spellings of jail, jailer.
Wiktionary
- n. Australia, Ireland Preferred alternative spelling of jail.
- n. UK alternative spelling of jail.
- v. UK To confine in a gaol; to imprison
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A place of confinement, especially for minor offenses or provisional imprisonment; a jail.
WordNet 3.0
- v. lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
- n. 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)
Etymologies
- From Middle English gayole, gaylle, gaille, gayle, gaile, via Old French gaiole, gayolle, gaole, from Medieval Latin gabiola, for *caveola, a diminutive of Latin cavea ("cavity, coop, cage"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“During the Emergency Mrs. Gandhi threw the Maharani in gaol for a while (on trumped up charges of tax evasion — in connection with “undeclared” jewels), then let her out again.”
“Poor old Clegg (NI) spent years in gaol before we discovered there was no proof it was his bullet that killed anyone.”
“What better place for social-working worthies to practice than in gaol? on April 13, 2010 at 6: 00 pm Gary”
“Critics have pointed out that the gaol is only designed to hold a maximum of 30 inmates.”
“Taxes are unpopular, so easier all round to peddle the myth that “too many people are in gaol” than to address the problem of persistent offenders. on October 8, 2009 at 6: 57 pm Wig and Gown”
“You know people are desperate when attempting to outwit the fire inspectors and insurance people begins to look attractive even when gaol is the price of failure.”
“Prisoners should not languish in gaol; they should be used for a good purpose.”
“Who exactly are all these innocent members of the public thrown in gaol for protecting their property?”
“The ultimate gaol is to keep this country safe, right?”
“Then he cried to the gaoler, “Take her with thee and clap her in gaol till the morning;” but he replied, “I will not take her nor will I imprison her lest she play a trick on me and I be answerable for her.””
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gaol’.
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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tatterdemalion's list
chrysalis, colloquy, peroration, syncretism, dickering, gamelan, dictatress, adventurism, untenable, presumption of fa..., lovelorn, bawdily and 47 more...
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Kalli's Words
redundant, munchkin, escapade, natch, boom, fap, geek, nocturnal, pedantic, tactile, conversant, oxymoron and 188 more...
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strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
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words found to be generally pleasing
alabaster, mahogany, camphor, coalesce, spire, portmanteau, gadabout, palaver, dolor, dour, dun, luminesce and 610 more...
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good ones
grumble, fumble, bumble, stumble, crumble, mumble, jumble, humble, bramble, scramble, amble, ramble and 191 more...
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beatricks's Words
tremendous, naiad, thrush, samsara, thronging, nascent, broom, aristeia, streak, susurrant, reverberate, resistentialism and 352 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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My Treasures
Well everyone's lists are favourites or pets or useful terms, no? These are mine.
mephitic, cagastric, wulm, scaevity, seplasiary, sevidical, sevous, soleated, soloecal, sputcheon, stagma, temerate and 173 more...
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fuffbee's Words
panopticon, perihelion, apsis, cuppycake, nexus, fufflebee, shawshank, hoi, lool, apogee, id, rubedo and 90 more...
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JJMARLETTE's Words
phantasmagorical, antidisestablishm..., gargantuan, apocryphal, maim, disembowel, viscous, apothecary, seminal, exponential, googol, googolplex and 90 more...
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Legislationie: The Habeas Corpus Act ...
An act for the better securing the liberty of the subject, and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas.
WHEREAS great delays have been used by sheriffs, gaolers and other offi...of the peace, the hand and seal of, signed and sealed, jurisdiction, hath, order, recognizances, cognizable, properly, city, county, gaol-delivery and 120 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gaol.
sionnach Fat lady singing in gaol? I'm guessing it's "Il Trovatore"!
In yon gloomy tow-ow-er
Stern Death now is Caw-aw-ling ....
Home to our mou-hount-ains
let us ret-uh--huh-urn
There in my you-ung days...
Of thee-ee, I'ill thi-ink o-of thee, love,
Yes I-i wi-ill thi-ink o-of thee, love,
I'll think of thee, love
I'll think of thee, love.... Apr 26, 2008
plethora Such a shame. gaol is a much better word than jail. Apr 26, 2008
bilby The Fat Lady is singing. Apr 26, 2008
kewpid I do believe that "gaol" has lost the war against "jail" in the Australian media. Apr 26, 2008