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Kapo

American  
[kah-poh] / ˈkɑ poʊ /
Or kapo

noun

  1. a Nazi concentration camp prisoner who was given privileges in return for supervising prisoner work gangs: often a common criminal and frequently brutal to fellow inmates.


Etymology

Origin of Kapo

< German, perhaps shortening of French caporal corporal 2

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.

See Examples For:

Featured on his latest album “201,” the gentle love ballad is elevated with the poetic additions of Colombian singer-rapper Kapo, whose soft-spoken interludes heat up the track.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 31, 2024

Helm shows that, in Ravensbrück, where the term “Blockova” was used, rather than Kapo, power struggles took place among prisoner factions over who would occupy the Blockova position in each barrack.

From The New Yorker Mar. 30, 2015

A Kapo was a camp inmate given privileges for supervising prison work gangs.

From Reuters Feb. 21, 2013

Manager Neil Lennon was also without suspended captain Scott Brown and the injured Olivier Kapo, along with striker Daryl Murphy, as he was forced to reshuffle his midfield.

From BBC Jan. 2, 2011

What's more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father.

From "Night" by Elie Wiesel

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