prison camp
Americannoun
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a camp for the confinement of prisoners of war or political prisoners.
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a camp for less dangerous prisoners assigned to outdoor work, usually for the government.
Etymology
Origin of prison camp
First recorded in 1905–10
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.
His father fought in World War II and spent more than three years in a Japanese prison camp, after which he returned to Malaya and later settled in the south of England.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
This is a prison camp that does not house sex offenders, nor those with the 20-year sentence Maxwell has.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2025
Villagers say a "gigantic mega-shed" built near their homes has blocked their view and left them feeling like they are in a prison camp.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
Written in 1946 by a young French composer released from a Nazi prison camp, the hourlong song cycle for very dramatic soprano and piano reimagines Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde as exotic Peruvian lovers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
Indeed, just two people other than Shin are known to have escaped from any political prison camp in North Korea and made it to the West.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
