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
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Helene has cemented the Tar Heel state as a target for disaster tourism, a cultural phenomenon that recasts war zones as holiday destinations and slots concentration camps onto bucket lists. Lila Hempel-Edgers july 22, Charlotte Observer, 22 July 2025 Erik becomes Magneto, and those early experiences in the concentration camp indelibly shaped his character and world view, fueling his nefarious plans for mutants to displace humans as the dominant species on Earth. ArsTechnica, 20 July 2025 An act that could destroy the ceasefire negotiations and would consolidate the Israeli plans of creating a concentration camp in Rafah to enforce ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in Gaza. Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 July 2025 Most of the victims were deported by train to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where only a few survived. Dan Fellner, Sun Sentinel, 11 July 2025 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 25 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

concentration camp

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

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