noun
- plural of bridewell; houses of correction or local prisons
Usage: historical; British
Examples
- The old bridewells were eventually replaced by modern correctional facilities.
- Many bridewells in Victorian England housed both criminals and the poor.
- Local magistrates often sentenced petty offenders to the bridewells.
- The conditions in these bridewells were notoriously harsh.
- Several bridewells operated as workhouses for minor criminals.