detention center

noun

1
: a place where people who have entered a country illegally are kept for a period of time
2
: a place where people who have committed crimes are kept as punishment
She spent several months in a detention center for women.
a juvenile detention center

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Madimba was taken to the Stearns County jail and later to a secure juvenile detention center. Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 27 Apr. 2023 Zephyr left the Capitol to follow the protesters taken to the detention center. Anumita Kaur, Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2023 Graciela Lois, of the Argentine victim organization Familiares, speaks at the inauguration of an exhibit at the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory, a former clandestine detention center. Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Mar. 2023 Mack would get into trouble just so the police would take him to a local youth detention center. La Risa R. Lynch, Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2023 Edwards was working with multiple inmates to bring the drugs into the detention center, Sander said. Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 8 Apr. 2023 His arrest came after the detention center discovered evidence indicating that drugs were being given to inmates by an employee, prosecutors said in a news release. Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 8 Apr. 2023 More on Mexico Migrant Center Fire: At least 39 people died in a blaze at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Galia García Palafox Alejandro Cegarra, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2023 Late last month, a disastrous fire at an immigration detention center near the U.S. border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, left 40 people dead. Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 6 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'detention center.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Detention center.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detention%20center. Accessed 2 Jun. 2023.

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