jailwear

J8A1I1L1W4E1A1R1

noun

Clothes to be worn by inmates of a jail.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

nounjailwear (uncountable)
  1. uncountableClothes to be worn by inmates of a jail.

    His jailwear has been traded for a double-breasted black suit with wide pinstripes that looks Versace, and a white shirt with gold cuff links, and a rusty red-and-brown silk tie that brings to mind Hermès.

    2012, Patricia Cornwell, chapter 17, in The Bone Bed, London: Hachette Digital, →ISBN
    4 more examples

    For clothes, it’s jailwear or nothing at Riverside, unless you have the cash “on your books” to pick up a Hanes t-shirt or a pair of blue gym shorts from the canteen. The standard teal-green jumpsuit—never, ever to be worn unbuttoned—is only required for recreation and visitors.

    1999 September, Sally Chew, chapter 28, in A Fatal Lie: A True Story of Betrayal and Murder in the New South, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 185

    Being on the high-profile ward meant getting special jailwear. Everyone on Murderers’ Row was forced to wear a bright red prison gown—the same color gown that was reserved for those charged with child molestation. Our red gowns alerted the rest of the prisoners to our “special” status, […]

    2003, Susan McDougal with Pat Harris, “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Sybil Brand”, in The Woman Who Wouldn’t Talk: Why I Refused to Testify Against the Clintons & What I Learned in Jail, New York, N.Y.: Carroll & Graf Publishers, →ISBN, page 263

    Alan Long stepped in with a pair of the orange jail coveralls under his arm. / “Here ya go, Pingo.” Long dropped the coveralls onto the table in front of Kivalina. / Kivalina put a hand on the jailwear and looked at the two officers. “I have to do it with you guys in here?” / “We’ll give you some privacy.” Active motioned for Long to follow him out of the room. / Through the mirror, they watched as Kivalina peeled off the coveralls with the stain at the crotch and tossed them into a corner.

    2009, Stan Jones, chapter 12, in Village of the Ghost Bears: A Novel (A Nathan Active Mystery; 4), New York, N.Y.: Soho Press, →ISBN, pages 219–220

    When Heat went into the box and sat across from Petar, she could see the fight all over him, too. The only difference was he’d been changed into jailwear. He bore more than his share of cuts, bruises, caked dirt, and dried blood. He even still wore the stripe of blue paint Nikki had tagged his face with. In his orange coveralls, he looked like he’d gotten ejected from a Florida Gators game.

    2012, Richard Castle [pseudonym; Tom Straw], chapter 19, in Frozen Heat (Nikki Heat; 4), →ISBN, pages 288–289

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

jailwear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jailwear

MLA

“jailwear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jailwear. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jailwear,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jailwear.

Source: jailwear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.