as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
they ended up in the hoosegow for disorderly conduct
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Recent Examples of hoosegow
Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park Carved from granite cliffs overlooking the Colorado River, Yuma Prison was the Old West’s most notorious hoosegow, garnering a fearsome reputation.
—
Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 1 Jan. 2025
In prison, there are Keene’s encounters with a real-life mob boss and a manipulative guard to add tension, and just enough mayhem to remind you that this is no ordinary hoosegow.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2022
Her ex — still in the hoosegow in Los Angeles — was tried and sentenced to a two-year stretch at San Quentin.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2022
From 1868 to 1890, legend says Wickenburg scofflaws were chained to a mesquite tree that served as the town hoosegow.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 28 Nov. 2020
Most famously, in 1968 Johnny Cash serenaded state inmates at the max-security Folsom Prison in California, later turning the hoosegow act into a live album titled At Folsom Prison.
—Keri Blakinger, Houston Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2019
Carved from a granite cliff overlooking the Colorado River, this was America’s most notorious 19th century hoosegow.
—Roger Naylor, azcentral, 4 Oct. 2019
And Blankenship has charged that Manchin, who was governor at the time of the mine explosion, conspired with Barack Obama (not a popular figure in West Virginia) to send him to the hoosegow.
—Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 20 Mar. 2018
And worse yet from the governor’s point of view, the prosecutor with jurisdiction over these matters is the same one trying to send him to the hoosegow for the privacy and blackmail charge, St. Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner.
—Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 17 Apr. 2018
Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 1 Jan. 2025
In prison, there are Keene’s encounters with a real-life mob boss and a manipulative guard to add tension, and just enough mayhem to remind you that this is no ordinary hoosegow.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2022
Her ex — still in the hoosegow in Los Angeles — was tried and sentenced to a two-year stretch at San Quentin.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2022
From 1868 to 1890, legend says Wickenburg scofflaws were chained to a mesquite tree that served as the town hoosegow.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 28 Nov. 2020
Most famously, in 1968 Johnny Cash serenaded state inmates at the max-security Folsom Prison in California, later turning the hoosegow act into a live album titled At Folsom Prison.
—Keri Blakinger, Houston Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2019
Carved from a granite cliff overlooking the Colorado River, this was America’s most notorious 19th century hoosegow.
—Roger Naylor, azcentral, 4 Oct. 2019
And Blankenship has charged that Manchin, who was governor at the time of the mine explosion, conspired with Barack Obama (not a popular figure in West Virginia) to send him to the hoosegow.
—Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 20 Mar. 2018
And worse yet from the governor’s point of view, the prosecutor with jurisdiction over these matters is the same one trying to send him to the hoosegow for the privacy and blackmail charge, St. Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner.
—Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 17 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoosegow
Noun
-
In that case, a man incarcerated in a local jail filed a complaint with CLERB alleging that deputies damaged his personal property and mishandled legal documents during a cell search.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2025
-
In a previous life, the tournament would have been the high point of his professional career, but languishing in a Qatari jail, Ibhais could not bear witnessing the four-week football extravaganza playing out in the Gulf nation.—
Samindra Kunti,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
He was convicted again about a decade later and sentenced to more time in prison.—
Lisa Hagen,
Hartford Courant,
31 May 2025
-
After a guilty plea, Brown faces up to 20 years in prison.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
Noun
-
The gallows, where 15 penitentiary inmates were executed by hanging, were no longer there.—
Tammy Ljungblad,
Kansas City Star,
17 May 2025
-
Instead, Trump took a number of potshots at his sometime opponent during a Tuesday press conference, less than 48 hours after ordering the Bureau of Prisons to reopen Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
7 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hoosegow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoosegow. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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