Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Jail \Jail\, n. [OE. jaile, gail, gayhol, OF. gaole, gaiole,
   jaiole, F. ge[^o]le, LL. gabiola, dim. of gabia cage, for L.
   cavea cavity, cage. See {Cage}.]
   A kind of prison; a building for the confinement of persons
   held in lawful custody, especially for minor offenses or with
   reference to some future judicial proceeding. [Written also
   {gaol}.]

         This jail I count the house of liberty.  --Milton.

   {Jail bird}, a prisoner; one who has been confined in prison.
      [Slang]

   {Jail delivery}, the release of prisoners from jail, either
      legally or by violence.

   {Jail delivery commission}. See under {Gaol}.

   {Jail fever} (Med.), typhus fever, or a disease resembling
      it, generated in jails and other places crowded with
      people; -- called also {hospital fever}, and {ship fever}.
      

   {Jail liberties}, or {Jail limits}, a space or district
      around a jail within which an imprisoned debtor was, on
      certain conditions, allowed to go at large. --Abbott.

   {Jail lock}, a peculiar form of padlock; -- called also
      {Scandinavian lock}.

Jail \Jail\, v. t.
   To imprison. [R.] --T. Adams (1614).

         [Bolts] that jail you from free life.    --Tennyson.

Source : WordNet®

jail
     v : lock up or confine, in or as in a jail; "The suspects were
         imprisoned without trial"; "the murderer was incarcerated
         for the rest of his life" [syn: {imprison}, {incarcerate},
          {lag}, {immure}, {put behind bars}, {jug}, {gaol}, {put
         away}, {remand}]

jail
     n : a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in
         the lawful custody of the government (either accused
         persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a
         sentence) [syn: {jailhouse}, {gaol}, {clink}, {slammer}]