(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
Note: in BRIT, also use 'gaol'
1.
A ~ is a place where criminals are kept in order to punish them, or where people waiting to be tried are kept.
Three prisoners escaped from a ~.
= prison
N-VAR
2.
If someone is ~ed, they are put into ~.
He was ~ed for twenty years.
VERB: usu passive, be V-ed