penitentiary

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Alcatraz, which opened as a federal penitentiary in 1934, was once considered among the most secure prisons in the United States due to its isolated island location and the strong currents surrounding it.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Early last year, prison officials transferred Hernández out of the federal detention center in Brooklyn, which largely holds pretrial detainees, and sent him to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

In it, the special agent in charge recounts an interview done with one of Ray’s cellmates in the Missouri penitentiary who reported Ray having said to him:

From Slate • Dec. 1, 2025

As the documentary outlines, the building of that “state-of-the-art” penitentiary in the middle of the redwood forest in the northernmost part of California helped dehumanize those housed within its walls.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2025

It’s bad enough that the great city of San Francisco should suffer the indignity of a maximum security federal penitentiary in its midst without being subject to these sorts of sick and dangerous shenanigans.

From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko