concentration camp

noun

Synonyms of concentration campnext
: a place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard
used especially in reference to camps created by the Nazis in World War II for the internment and persecution of Jews and other prisoners
The Nazi soldiers hauled [Mordechai] Strigler off to a concentration camp, and carved swastikas into his cheeks and forehead with a razor blade. Over the next five years, he was sent from one concentration camp or slave-labor camp to another.David Remnick
She ended up dying in a concentration camp, just a few months before she would have been liberated.Marilyn Reynolds
The V2 killed thousands of British civilians while 20,000 concentration camp inmates died as slave labourers during its manufacture in the closing stages of the second world war.Anna Tomforde et al.
see also death camp

Examples of concentration camp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The penalty for those caught listening by German detector vans was deportation to a concentration camp. Max Hastings, Twin Cities, 5 Apr. 2026 Language comparing detention facilities to concentration camps has been controversial around the country. Ryan Gillespie, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2026 The penalty for those caught listening by German detector vans was deportation to a concentration camp. Max Hastings, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2026 Rosa hid both Sam and his sister Sara in the camp until they were deported in 1944 to the Częstochowa concentration camp in Poland, where Rosa again hid both Sam and his sister until the Soviet Army liberated the camp in 1945. Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for concentration camp

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of concentration camp was in 1901

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Cite this Entry

“Concentration camp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concentration%20camp. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.

Kids Definition

concentration camp

noun
: a camp where persons (as prisoners of war, political prisoners, or refugees) are detained

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