Meaning & use
gaols
Last updated
Prisons, especially in older or British usage (plural of gaol, an alternate spelling of jail).
See it in a sentence
The old gaols of the city were notorious for their overcrowding.
Debtors were once held in local gaols until their families could pay what was owed.
A note on using this word
Gaol and jail are pronounced the same and mean the same thing; gaol was historically the standard British spelling, while jail became dominant even in Britain during the 20th century.
Words with a similar meaning
jailsprisons
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