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detention centre

British

noun

a place where persons (typically asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, or people awaiting trial) may be detained for short periods by order of a court

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The ongoing costs of building and running the new detention centre have not been revealed by the French government.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

France's Ministry of the Interior was granted a permit to build a detention centre with the capacity to hold 140 people in July last year.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

Nicolas Fournier, the president of ADELFA, said although winning the lawsuit was "not certain", he was "still trying to hinder this process of building the detention centre with the appeal".

From BBC • May 27, 2026

"Now," he said, "we're going to be known as Georgia's greatest little detention centre."

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

Now those plans for a 10,000-person detention centre appear to be on hold.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023