concentration camp

noun

: 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

Northern France was directly occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, while much of the south fell under the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis and participated in the deportation of Jews to concentration camps. —Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 8 May 2026

Most people hear it and instinctively think of concentration camps used by the Nazis to exterminate Jews and other minority populations during the Holocaust. —Alex Braithwaite, The Conversation, 1 May 2026

The men toured the concentration camps with teenagers, detailing their personal experiences of loss and terror. —Steven Yablonski, CBS News, 1 May 2026

Heppner lost several family members to concentration camps, including his maternal grandfather, who was murdered in Sobibor in occupied Poland with two brothers. —Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for concentration camp

• amp
• champ
• clamp
• cramp
• damp
• gamp
• lamp
• ramp
• samp
• scamp
• stamp
• tamp

Kids Definition

concentration camp

noun

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