Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hoosegow

/ˈhuːsɡaʊ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.14 in modern English

Syllables: hoosegow
IPA: /ˈhuːsɡaʊ/

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

1

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

American usage; Slang

Example Sentences

"There's parts of Mexico they'd take you straight to the hoosegow for just whistlin that."
"Philip Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology department, divided the participants at random into ‘prisoners’ and ‘guards,’ and even got the Palo Alto police to arrest the prisoners and haul them to the campus hoosegow."

Etymology

From informal spoken Spanish juzgao, variant of standard Spanish juzgado (“court, courthouse”). Alteration of pronunciation and spelling by law of Hobson-Jobson.

Origin

Source language: Spanish

Word Breakdown

Root: juzgao

Usage

American usage
Slang

Inflected Forms

hoosegows (plural) hoosgow (alternative) hoosecow (alternative) hooscow (alternative)

Synonyms

hoosgow

Questions

How do you pronounce hoosegow?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhuːsɡaʊ/.
What does hoosegow mean?: A jail.
Where does hoosegow come from?: It is traced to Spanish.

How to pronounce hoosegow

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hoosegow”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhuːsɡaʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “hoosegow”.
Repeat and practice — Say “hoosegow” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.