gaol

Everyday

1. (UK, old spelling) A prison; a jail. tree →
2. (verb) To put someone in prison. tree →

In the lessons

Gaol is the old British spelling of jail; it sounds exactly the same. You see it in old books and on old buildings, and it is still used in Australia in names like «Old Melbourne Gaol». In The Wind in the Willows, Toad is sent to gaol for twenty years for stealing a motor-car, driving dangerously and cheeking the police; he escapes disguised as a washerwoman.

Examples

• Toad was thrown into gaol. tree →
• The old gaol is now a museum. tree →
• He was gaoled for stealing horses. tree →
• The gaoler locked the gaol at night. tree →
• In the past, people could be sent to gaol for owing money. tree →
• We visited the Old Melbourne Gaol on a school trip. tree →

Note

Spelling trap: gaol is said «jail», not «goal». Do not mix up with goal (in football). Modern spelling everywhere is jail; prison is the formal word.