Prison and Punishment
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- administrative segregation - placement in solitary confinement of prisoner not accused of any disciplinary infraction
- amnesty - pardon handed down to group or class of offenders
- bastinado - punishment by beating soles of feet with stick
- behind bars - Informal. imprisoned or in jail
- big house - Slang. penitentiary or prison
- bilboes - shackles attached to long iron bar for prisoner’s feet
- black hole - any wretched place of imprisonment or confinement
- break - escape from jail or prison
- brig - naval prison, esp. on ship
- cage - prison cell
- calaboose - Slang. jail
- can - Slang. jail or prison
- cangue - large wooden yoke formerly fastened about neck as punishment (China)
- capital punishment - sentence of death; death penalty
- captive - prisoner
- cat-o’-nine-tails - whip of nine knotted cords attached to handle, used for flogging
- cell - small room in which prisoner is held or lives
- cellblock - prison unit consisting of a number of cells
- chain gang - group of convicts chained together, esp. when doing manual labor outside
- chair - Informal. electric chair
- city hotel - Slang. jail
- clemency - mercy shown to prisoner by authorities
- clink - Slang. jail or prison
- commitment - sentencing of criminal to prison term
- commute - (vb) reduce sentence
- con - Informal. convict
- concentration camp - enforced labor and execution center, esp. one run by Nazis in World War II
- condemned - (adj) sentenced, esp. to death
- confinement - imprisonment
- conjugal visit - private visitation privilege extended to prisoner for exercise of conjugal rights with his or her spouse
- convict - person found guilty of crime serving time in prison; con
- cooler - Slang. jail
- coop - Slang. prison
- correctional institution - prison or penal colony for long-term incarceration
- count - census of prisoner, during which all other prison activity halts
- county jail - local center for short-term incarceration of persons awaiting trial or sentencing or convicted of minor offenses
- death penalty - capital punishment
- death row - area in prison housing convicts sentenced to death
- debtor’s prison - prison in which debtors were formerly held until able to pay debts
- detention facility - jail, camp, or hall for inmates awaiting trial or sentencing and for aliens awaiting deportation
- dime - Slang. ten-year prison sentence
- do time - Slang. serve a sentence
- drunk tank - Informal. city jail cell in which persons arrested for public drunkenness, and other arrestees, are held overnight
- dungeon - prison, esp. dark and forbidding one
- electric chair - seat in which condemned prisoner is strapped for electrocution
- electrocution - execution by electric charge
- ex-con - Informal. former convict, now released from prison
- execution - putting to death of person convicted of crime, usu. by electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, hanging, injection, or guillotine
- executioner - prison officer charged with carrying out execution
- false imprisonment - illegal confinement of someone against his or her will and without cause
- firing squad - group of soldiers who execute prisoners by simultaneously shooting them
- fish - Slang. new prisoner
- flogging - whipping as punishment
- gas chamber - airtight prison room in which execution by poison gas takes place
- gibbet - upright post with projecting arm at top for hanging bodies of executed criminals as warning
- guillotine - instrument for execution by beheading, in which a heavy blade is dropped between two grooved uprights
- hack - Slang. prison guard
- hanging - execution by strangulation or breaking of neck, usu. by suspending prisoner from rope tied around his or her neck
- hangman - public executioner who administers hangings
- hitch - prison term
- holding cell - prisoners’ temporary place of confinement
- hole - solitary confinement
- house arrest - confinement under guard in one’s normal living quarters instead of prison
- house of correction - place of confinement and reform for criminals convicted of minor offenses
- house of detention - place of confinement for alleged criminals awaiting trial, and sometimes for witnesses
- incarceration - imprisonment
- injection - execution by injection of toxic substance
- inmate - prisoner
- inside - (adv) Slang. in prison
- jacket - Slang. prisoner’s file or arrest record; prisoner’s reputation
- Jack Ketch - Brit. slang. official hangman
- jail - building for short-term confinement of prisoners and those accused of crimes; county jail; Slang calaboose, can, city hotel, clink, cooler, jug, poky; also, esp. Brit., gaol
- jailbird - inmate, esp. longtime or repeat inmate
- jailer - official overseeing jail operations and guarding prisoners; turnkey; warder
- jailhouse lawyer - prisoner who does legal research and writing for others while serving time
- joint - Slang. usu. the joint; prison
- jug - Slang. jail
- keeper - jailer, prison guard
- kite - Slang. note passed from one cell to another
- knout - (vb) flog
- lam - Slang. escape from prison or flight to evade authorities
- lifer - Slang. prisoner sentenced to life term
- life sentence - prison term lasting for entire life span
- lockdown - confinement of all prisoners to their cells
- lynching - illegal execution of suspect, usu. hanging by mob
- man - Slang. usu the Man; police officer or prison guard
- maximum-security prison - heavily guarded prison housing prisoners with long sentences and dangerous or hardened criminals
- medium-security prison - prison with moderate security, less than maximum and more than minimum
- minimum-security prison - moderately guarded or unguarded prison, such as a work farm, housing white-collar and less serious offenders and those serving short sentences or nearing release
- mittimus - warrant of commitment to prison
- mule - Slang. person who smuggles contraband, esp. into jail or prison
- nickel - Slang. five-year prison sentence
- on ice - Slang. imprisoned, esp. in solitary confinement
- oubliette - concealed dungeon with trapdoor in its ceiling
- pardon - official cancellation of sentence or punishment for crime
- parole - release from prison before full sentence has been served
- parolee - prisoner who has been set free but must maintain contact with authorities
- pen - Informal. penitentiary
- penal - (adj) pertaining to or constituting legal punishment
- penal colony - prison, esp. one in isolated area
- penal institution - jail, reformatory, or prison
- penitentiary - maximum-security prison, esp. one maintained by a state or the U.S. government for serious offenders
- pillory - wood frame used to restrain head and hands as punishment
- poky - Slang. jail
- political prisoner - person deemed politically dangerous by state and falsely imprisoned for supposed crimes
- population - prisoners who are not in segregation and are allowed to mix with others
- POW - prisoner of war
- prison - state or federal institution for long-term confinement of convicts, usu. felons; Slang big house, can, clink, coop, joint, slammer, stir
- prisoner - person accused or convicted of crime and held in jail or prison; captive; inmate
- prisoner of war - POW; person held captive by enemy during wartime
- prison riot - violent outburst by prisoners against prison conditions
- probation - suspension of prison sentence on guarantee of good behavior and regular reporting to authorities
- protective custody - administrative segregation of prisoner deemed in danger if allowed to mix with other prisoners
- punishment - penalty imposed by legal system on convicted offender
- punk - Slang. male prisoner coerced into sexually passive or submissive homosexual role
- quarter - Slang. twenty-five-year prison sentence
- rack - torture device in which victim’s body is bound to frame and stretched
- rat - Slang. (n) informer; (vb) inform on
- recidivism - repetition of, or chronic engagement in, criminal acts; return to confinement for any reason, including technical parole violations
- reformatory - penal institution for reform and rehabilitation of young offenders, esp. minors; reform school
- reform school - reformatory
- rehabilitation - preparation of prisoners for reentry into society by eliminating criminal impulses
- reprieve - delay in execution of sentence
- segregation - locked-down housing apart from other prisoners, usu. in solitary, either disciplinary or administrative
- sentence - punishment determined by law
- serve time - pass time of sentence in prison
- shakedown - search of prisoner or prison cell, undertaken by guards, esp. for contraband or weapons
- short time - Informal. period of sentence just prior to prisoner’s release; brief sentence
- slammer - Slang. prison
- solitary confinement - holding of prisoner alone in isolated cell for extended period
- stir - Slang. prison
- stockade - military prison
- stocks - heavy wooden frame with holes for confining ankles and wrists, formerly used for punishment
- street - Slang. usu. the street; world outside confinement
- tank - Slang. prison or jail cell for more than one prisoner, usu. temporary holding cell
- tar and feather - cover offender’s body with hot tar and feathers as punishment, usu. by mob action
- time - prison sentence
- torture - cruel and unusual punishment, esp. infliction of extreme pain
- trusty - well-behaved and trustworthy prisoner given special privileges and responsibilities, often having power over other prisoners
- turnkey - jailer
- up the river - Slang. serving time in prison
- violate - (vb) Slang. return to incarceration as a parole violator
- warden - prison administrator
- warder - jailer
- ward of the state - minor or incompetent person under protection or custody of court
- water torture - punishment in which water is dripped slowly onto victim’s forehead
- whipping - punishment by flogging with whip
- work camp - work farm
- work farm - minimum-security prison in which inmates are allowed out of their cells to work, esp. outdoors; work camp
- yard - enclosed outdoor area for exercise of inmates, where prisoners can mingle
- yardbird - Slang. convict or prisoner
- yard hack - Slang. guard in prison yard
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