calaboose

Related to calaboose: blackbirded

calaboose

slang Jail. The word comes from "calabozo," the Spanish word for "dungeon." They'll throw you in the calaboose if they find out that you were involved in the robbery!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

calaboose

(ˈkæləbus)
n. jail. (From a Spanish word.) Are we going to tell what happened, or are we going to spend the night in the calaboose?
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • word by word
  • from the word go
  • have word (from someone or something)
  • get word (from someone or something)
  • filthy
  • filthy lucre
  • receive word
  • receive word (from someone or something)
  • false friend
  • word for word
References in periodicals archive
According to the Calaboose website: "In the shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains, there's an old stone building with bars on the windows that overlooks our small vineyard.
Calaboose produces about 400 cases per year from native American and hybrid grapes as well as local fruit; they retail from $10/bottle for dessert wines to $18 for Chambourcin and Seyval.
Packaging for handcrafted wines: how artisan winemakers tell singular stories with their distinctive bottles
Inside the calaboose, they feel the chill of the coral floor and hear Huish's teeth chattering, they attempt to warm themselves by huddling together; their sleep is only intermittent, since the cold floor and Huish's coughing keep waking them up.
Where the bodies are buried: Cartesian dispositions in narrative theories of character
The Natural Light's many introductions include Chester Drawers wood table lamp with working drawers and oval homespun shade; Calaboose wood table lamp with vase cap and finial on a linen soft side shade; and the Feline table lamp in tortoise finish on wood, bamboo and leather base with chocolate accents topped with soft-side leopard print shade.
CASTING LIGHT ON HIGH POINT
Between 1876 and 1909, this calaboose held more than 3,000 prisoners.
No sense of Yuma? Stop for fun, lots of history
Figuring that members might not see the humor in a threat to send legislators to the calaboose, they decided the bill should be sponsored by two representatives: one had the surname Love, the other Kindness.
Shakedown
Not too long ago I completed what I consider one of my best efforts: stories on brutality in the local calaboose that resulted in serious reforms.
Lose the malaise, cover the story
The last alternative may prove to be the most challenging and will certainly make an exciting try for the folks back home--that is, if the local authorities allow postcards to be sent from the calaboose.
The art of customs clearance
When she's released from her hospital bed, the local prosecutor says they've got a bed waiting for her in the calaboose.
That was convenient!
Not-quite-spotted going from the El Paso jail: Creative convict and accused distributor of unlicensed pharmaceuticals--what we used to call a "dope dealer" in the old, politically insensitive era--Carlos Medina-Bailon, who quietly slipped outta the calaboose by stowing away in the garbage-collection system.
The jails Of Texas