Marshalsea
Americannoun
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the court of the marshal of the royal household.
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a debtors' prison in London, abolished in 1842.
noun
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(formerly in England) a court held before the knight marshal: abolished 1849
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a prison for debtors and others, situated in Southwark, London: abolished in 1842
Etymology
Origin of Marshalsea
1350–1400; Middle English marchalsye, variant of marschalcie. See marshal, -cy
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.
He briefly ran his own financial consultancy, which he named Marshalsea Associates, after the prison in “Little Dorrit.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2021
His grandfather was a servant, and his father, John Dickens, was an impecunious minor civil servant ultimately sent to the notorious debtors’ prison, Marshalsea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2020
Young John Chivery, son of the Marshalsea Turnkeeper, is rewarded for running "mysterious missions" with a banquet, for which Miss Rugg "with her own hands stuffed a leg of mutton with oysters."
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2017
John Dickens, the father of the novelist, was thrown into the Marshalsea for debt, an experience young Charles never forgot – and used to brilliant effect in Little Dorrit.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2013
We must be all familiar with the Father of the Marshalsea, his brother Frederick, Maggie, and the several others of the dramatis personæ of that charming tale.
From Rambles in Dickens' Land by Allbut, Robert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
