Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A prisoner or an ex-convict.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who has been or is confined in jail; a malefactor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • Slang A prisoner; one is in prison or who has been confined in prison.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A prisoner or an ex-prisoner

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly
  • noun a criminal who has been jailed repeatedly

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

jail +‎ bird, circa 1600. Compare gallows bird.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word jailbird.

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.

    Michael Conniff: Con Games: Aspen Jail Just a Stage for Charlie Sheen 2010

  • 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.

    The Story of Julia Page Kathleen Thompson Norris 1923

  • Judge Carrie Ann Inaba tells E! that the jailbird is her first choice for the next season.

    From Inside the Box 2010

  • Judge Carrie Ann Inaba tells E! that the jailbird is her first choice for the next season.

    From Inside the Box 2010

  • That man this evening, when he called me 'jailbird' -- "

    Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod James A. Cooper 1917

  • The boy cocked one eye at him -- he knew that Jurgis was a "jailbird" by his shaven head.

    The Jungle 1906

  • (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

    Baltimore Crime 2010

  • Not so long as storyliners have to come up with a way to reintroduce Tracey 'jailbird' Barlow.

    The Daily Record - Home 2010

  • Minimum bail for each participant "jailbird" is set at $10 with $1 from every $10 collected being donated to the Simon Youth Foundation.

    News from www.thesunchronicle.com 2009

  • "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.

    Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod James A. Cooper 1917

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.