(חָנוּת, chanuth'; Sept. merely Graecizes, ἡ χερέθ ), properly a vault or cell (so the margin) within the dungeon, and under ground, for the separate confinement of prisoners (Jeremiah 37:16). Others (Scheid, in the Diss. Lugdun. p. 988) understand it to mean a curved post, i.e. the stocks (comp. Jeremiah 20:2-3; Jeremiah 29:26). The idea conveyed in either case is that the prophet suffered the most severe and loathsome imprisonment. (See PRISON).