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ODE→jail

jail

Flag: gbEnglishOxford Dictionary of English
jail /dʒeɪl / (British English also gaol)
▸ noun a place for the confinement of people accused or convicted of a crime:
he spent 15 years in jail
[as modifier] a jail sentence.
▸ verb [with object] put (someone) in jail:
the driver was jailed for two years.
– ORIGIN Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French and Old French jaiole, gayole, based on Latin cavea (see cage). The spelling gaol was probably originally pronounced with a hard g, as in goat.