borstal

[ bawr-stuhl ]
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noun
  1. a school providing therapy and vocational training for delinquent boys in the United Kingdom and parts of the Commonwealth in the 20th century and continuing to operate in India and some other Commonwealth nations in the 21st century.

Origin of borstal

1
First recorded in 1905–10; named after Borstal, village in Kent, England
  • Also called bor·stal in·sti·tu·tion .

Words Nearby borstal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use borstal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for borstal

borstal

/ (ˈbɔːstəl) /


noun
  1. (formerly in Britain) an informal name for an establishment in which offenders aged 15 to 21 could be detained for corrective training. Since the Criminal Justice Act 1982, they have been replaced by youth custody centres (now known as young offender institutions)

  2. (formerly) a similar establishment in Australia and New Zealand

Origin of borstal

1
C20: named after Borstal, village in Kent where the first institution was founded

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012