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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

Dr Mihnea Cuibus, a researcher at The Migration Observatory, said there were many barriers to effectively scaling up migrant removals from the detention centre.

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

After his arrest by ICE agents, he spent about five months in a detention centre, before being deported to Mexico on 11 March.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

But he couldn't believe the news when he learned the detention centre was coming to his hometown.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

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