borstal

American  

[bawr-stuhl] / ˈbɔr stəl /

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.

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borstal British  

/ 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 Since the Criminal Justice Act 1982, they have been replaced by youth custody centres (now known as young offender institutions )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

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Etymology

Origin of borstal

First recorded in 1905–10; named after Borstal, village in Kent, England

Example Sentences

He's sent to borstal, which is a terrible thing for him.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2023

Near Strawberry Field was the Gladstone merchant's mansion, named Woolton Vale, later to become Woolton Vale Remand Home, about which John's cousin Stanley declared that "the bad boys' borstal intrigued us."

From Salon • Sep. 30, 2022

He described the barracks as "akin to a 1960s corporate borstal".

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2018

Smith's prison is literal – the Essex borstal – and though running gives him a sense of freedom, the only way he can express it is by deliberately losing.

From The Guardian • Jun. 5, 2010

"Welcome to borstal," she added, spraying bits of crisp out of her mouth like snowflakes.

From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl