hoosegow
noun
Burton BernsteinBill Hendrick
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In Spanish, juzgado means "panel of judges, courtroom." The word is based on the Spanish past participle of juzgar, meaning "to judge," which itself was influenced by Latin judicare—a combination of jus, "right, law," and dicere,"to decide, say." When English speakers of the American West borrowed juzgado, they recorded it the way they heard it: hoosegow. They also associated the word specifically with the jail that was usually in the same building as a courthouse. Today, hoosegow has become slang for any place of confinement for lawbreakers.
Synonyms
Examples of hoosegow in a Sentence
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
The charges if pursued and confirmed would definitely land Netanyahu in the hoosegow.
—Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 13 Feb. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hoosegow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hoosegow
Cite this Entry
“Hoosegow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoosegow. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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from Spanish juzgado "panel of judges, courtroom," derived from juzgar "to judge," from Latin judicare "to judge" — related to judge
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