Dictionary

bridewell en · NOUN

Etymology

From Bridewell (named after a well dedicated to St Bride), an area of London that once had a "house of correction".

Meanings

1. (Ireland, capitalized, dated, in UK, qualifier:rare elsewhere, sometimes) A small prison, or a police station that has cells.
   • Two Fermanagh girls who never laughed were certain that he must have served time in a bridewell, so cold was his expression and so calloused his small hands. 2002, Joseph O'Conner, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003, page xix:
   • Others in the Bridewell heard him screaming. Even prison doctors could see. His injuries were not self-inflicted. Those who tipped the scales did not agree. 1983, “The Wicklow Boy”, in The Time Has Come, performed by Christy Moore, produced by Dónal Lunny:

Forms