Legal System Vocabulary

adjective required by rule or law; obligatory

• Education is compulsory for children up to a certain age in most countries.
• You have to take that class, it's compulsory.
• I can't believe we have to do this compulsory training.
• Breathing is like a compulsory action for living beings.

noun the act of putting someone in jail

verb to put someone in jail

• The judge issued a jailing order for the criminal after the trial.
• They're jailing him for a year for stealing from the store.
• The cops are jailing that guy for causing a ruckus at the party.
• Her fear was like jailing herself in a cage of anxiety.

noun a prison for people convicted of serious crimes, typically longer-term sentences

adjective relating to or used for punishment and reform of criminals

• He was sentenced to serve time in the penitentiary for his crimes.
• They sent him to the penitentiary for a few years.
• He got locked up in the penitentiary for a while.
• Being trapped in his own guilt was like being in a mental penitentiary.