Meanings
- figurativelyidiomaticIn jail, in prison.
Some 460,000 Americans are behind bars for drug offenses--a tenfold increase over 1980.
2001 May 7, Margot Roosevelt et al., “The War Against The War On Drugs”, in TIME, archived from the original on 01 Feb 20122 more examples
There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.
1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXVII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLCLeading Jordanian exponents of the Salafi-jihadi world view, such as Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, are now behind bars or silent, fearing arrest by the powerful mukhabarat secret police.
2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2019
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Arabic خَلْفَ الْقُضْبَان, وَرَاءَ الْقُضْبَان
- خَلْفَ الْقُضْبَان (calques of Engish)in jail or prison
- وَرَاءَ الْقُضْبَان (warāʔa l-quḍbān)in jail or prison
Bulgarian зад реше́тките
- зад реше́тките (zad rešétkite)in jail or prison
Catalan a la garjola
- a la garjolain jail or prison
Chinese Mandarin 關在監牢裡 /关在监牢里, 身陷囹圄
- 關在監牢裡 /关在监牢里 (guān zài jiānláo lǐ)in jail or prison
- 身陷囹圄 (shēnxiànlíngyǔ)in jail or prison
Czech za mřížemi
- za mřížemiin jail or prison
Danish bag tremmer
- bag tremmerin jail or prison
Dutch achter de tralies
- achter de traliesin jail or prison
Finnish telkien takana, kalterien takana
- telkien takanain jail or prison
- kalterien takanain jail or prison
- vankilassain jail or prison
French derrière les barreaux, au violon
- derrière les barreauxin jail or prison
- au violonin jail or prison
German hinter Gitter
- hinter Gitterin jail or prison
Greek στη φυλακή
- στη φυλακή (sti fylakí)in jail or prison
Hebrew מֵאֲחוֹרֵי סוֹרָג וּבְרִיחַ
- מֵאֲחוֹרֵי סוֹרָג וּבְרִיחַ (me'akhoréi sorág uvríakh)in jail or prison
Hungarian rács mögött
- rács mögöttin jail or prison
Icelandic bakvið lás og sleggju
- bakvið lás og sleggjuin jail or prison
Indonesian di balik jeruji besi
- di balik jeruji besiin jail or prison
Italian dietro le sbarre
- dietro le sbarrein jail or prison
Japanese 獄中で
- 獄中で (gokuchū de)in jail or prison
Korean 감옥에서
- 감옥에서 (gamogeseo)in jail or prison
Latvian aiz restēm
- aiz restēmin jail or prison
Norwegian Bokmål bak lås og slå
- bak lås og slåin jail or prison
Polish za kratkami
- za kratkamiin jail or prison
Portuguese atrás das grades
- atrás das gradesin jail or prison
Romanian după gratii
- după gratiiin jail or prison
Russian за решёткой
- за решёткой (za rešótkoj)in jail or prison
Slovak za mrežami
- za mrežamiin jail or prison
Spanish entre rejas, tras las rejas
- entre rejasin jail or prison
- tras las rejasin jail or prison
Swedish bakom lås och bom
- bakom lås och bomin jail or prison
Tagalog himas-rehas
- himas-rehasin jail or prison
Ukrainian за ґра́тами
- за ґра́тами (za grátamy)in jail or prison
Cite this entry
behind bars. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20bars
“behind bars.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20bars. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “behind bars,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behind%20bars.
Source: behind bars on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.