detainee
noun
de·tain·ee
di-ˌtā-ˈnē 
ˌdē-
: a person held in custody especially for political reasons
Examples of detainee in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.
—
Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2025
At issue is whether the Trump administration has met the Supreme Court's standard for providing the detainees due process before sending them to another country - possibly to the notorious prison in El Salvador where others are jailed.
—Andrew Chung, Luc Cohen, Kristina Cooke, USA Today, 20 Apr. 2025
Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.
—CBS News, 19 Apr. 2025
The detainees had filed urgent requests to the high court, a federal appeals court and two trial courts to block their deportation.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detainee
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2025
At issue is whether the Trump administration has met the Supreme Court's standard for providing the detainees due process before sending them to another country - possibly to the notorious prison in El Salvador where others are jailed.
—Andrew Chung, Luc Cohen, Kristina Cooke, USA Today, 20 Apr. 2025
Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.
—CBS News, 19 Apr. 2025
The detainees had filed urgent requests to the high court, a federal appeals court and two trial courts to block their deportation.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detainee
Cite this Entry
“Detainee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detainee. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
detainee
noun
de·tain·ee
di-ˌtā-ˈnē
: a person who is detained
especially
: a person held in custody prior to trial or hearing
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share