prison camp

noun

1. a camp for the confinement of prisoners of war or political prisoners.

2. a camp for less dangerous prisoners assigned to outdoor work, usually for the government.

Word History and Origins

Origin of prison camp¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Federal troops are wreaking havoc in the streets, people are being abducted and sent to prison camps — or disappeared entirely — and the military is executing orders to murder foreign civilians on the high seas.

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Some of the most severe human rights violations were discovered to be taking place at the country's notorious political prison camps, where people can be locked up for life and "disappeared".

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Minimum‑security prison camps, like the one in Bryan, typically house inmates considered the lowest security risk, sometimes without perimeter fencing, according to an Associated Press report.

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Shelters built to protect people from tornadoes were brandished as “proof” that the prison camps were coming.

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He was captured in 2003 and is being held in Guantanamo Bay, the US prison camp in Cuba.

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Related Words

• concentration camp 
• gulag 
• internment camp