( Brit. also gaol )
■ noun a place for the confinement of people accused or convicted of a crime.
■ verb put (someone) in ~.
Derivatives
~er (also gaoler ) noun
Origin
ME: based on L. cavea (see cage ); the word came into Engl. in two forms, jaiole from OFr. and gayole from Anglo-Norman Fr. gaole (surviving in the spelling gaol ).