Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Informal A prisoner or an ex-convict.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One who has been or is confined in jail; a malefactor.
Wiktionary
- n. A prisoner or an ex-prisoner
GNU Webster's 1913
- Slang A prisoner; one is in prison or who has been confined in prison.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly
- n. a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly
Etymologies
- jail + bird, circa 1600. Compare gallows bird. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“To make the idea of jailbird-as-thespian even worse, I can tell you as someone who lives here that there is no possible way this does not turn into a media circus.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Conniff: Con Games: Aspen Jail Just a Stage for Charlie Sheen
“Chester, now about thirty years old, had been pardoned because of late evidence in his favour, when a five - year term for burglary was but one quarter served, but in his old father's eyes a jailbird was a jailbird, and Chester was still in some mysterious way to blame.”
“Judge Carrie Ann Inaba tells E! that the jailbird is her first choice for the next season.”
“That man this evening, when he called me 'jailbird' -- ”
“The boy cocked one eye at him -- he knew that Jurgis was a "jailbird" by his shaven head.”
“Not so long as storyliners have to come up with a way to reintroduce Tracey 'jailbird' Barlow.”
“(How far can he get without a license or credit cards .. or the help of close relations?) opened with testimony from the "jailbird" and his arresting officers”
“Minimum bail for each participant "jailbird" is set at $10 with $1 from every $10 collected being donated to the Simon Youth Foundation.”
“jailbird"; that girl whom Tunis Latham had befriended, had rescued from a situation which she could not think of now without a feeling of creeping horror.”
“He's also more than happy to share his sordid past as a one-time crack addict and jailbird who became a single father on welfare -- before turning his life around and becoming a New York Times star.”
The Huffington Post: Marshall Fine: HuffPost Review: Page One -- Inside the New York Times
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘jailbird’.
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Animal bipes implume
Specific use of the word bird to describe those featherless bipeds with the broad nails. (From Plato's description of man. See chicken.)
bird, gallows bird, yard bird, jailbird, bird colonel, bird of passage, birdbrain, birdman, firebird, lovebird, Birdman of Alcatraz, railbird and 8 more...
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Scrabble words which start with the l...
juvenile, juvenal, jutty, jute, jut, justness, justly, justle, justify, justice, juster, just and 534 more...
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that's just beastly!
cat-o-nine-tails, snake in the grass, puppy love, white elephant, crocodile tears, monkey business, keep the wolf fro..., culture vulture, black sheep of th..., scapegoat, ugly duckling, swan song and 260 more...
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Special Beasts
I'm looking for compounds or phrases where the character of an animal is essential to the meaning, yet the term is usable in general conversation.
scapegoat, bull market, sacred cow, bear market, hangdog, cat o' nine tails, clothes horse, mousey, donkey drop, black sheep, horseplay, ducks and drakes and 94 more...
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Noah's Park
Hello, and Welcome™! Come and visit our most diverse land of our Animalesque™ adventures. Here at Noah's Park™ we have Virtually All You'd Ever Want To See™. An experience that is related to ani...
sheep's eyes, doe-eyed, cat-eyed, bug-eyed, cat's paw, black swan, leapfrog, menagerie, cold turkey, card shark, snail's pace, bull's eye and 362 more...
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Wirds of a Feather
Phrases and figures of speech in which birds are featured. Or feathers. Or such like.
a little bird tol..., to have an albatr..., birds of a feathe..., in the catbird seat, cold turkey, to cook one's goose, don't count your ..., to have one's duc..., to eat crow, a feather in one'..., for the birds, flip the bird and 122 more...
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Nullologue
nullologue, vaudeville, debauchery, debauched, libertine, nothing, dhadak, tz pf, nothingology, goodbyeology, sharmuta, manifesto and 866 more...
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Animalia Wordia
Words or short phrases with animal names in them. Since I already have a dedicated list for 'monkey' words I shall leave them out of this one for the moment.
paper tiger, pigeon-hearted, lion-hearted, sacred cow, chicken heart, fraidy cat, scaredy-cat, snake oil, can of worms, snake pit, rat's nest, stool pigeon and 114 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, J
jaggery, juju, jackanapes, jasper, jazzy, jostle, jaywalk, jerky, jawbone, jersey, jaw, junction and 83 more...
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An odd menagerie
Some of the creatures found in the Octopus's Garden.
vamoose, snowcat, moscow, firefox, jailbird, sawhorse, bumblepuppy, shoofly, hangdog, megabuck, engraven, brickbat and 49 more...
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Fanciful Beasts
sun dog, hot dog, dust bunny, shutter dog, spelling bee, cash cow, jailbird, copycat, paper tiger, sewing bee, charley horse, high horse and 47 more...
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J is for Jack Russell
My J Words
jabberwocky, jack russell, jack-a-bee, jackabee, jackpot, jalopy, jambalaya, jammies, jeepers creepers, jezebel, jitterbug, jolly roger and 19 more...
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compound words
My favourites.
birdbath, gallowglass, lamplight, chokecherry, lightbox, riptide, softshoe, snowshed, bluebird, matchbox, sugarcane, nightcap and 64 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for jailbird.
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