protective custody
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of protective custody
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
He narrowly escaped and was placed under protective custody.
From BBC • May 12, 2026
Now he’d be sent to the hospital, stitched up, placed in protective custody, and sent to another prison.
From Slate • Oct. 8, 2025
Mr De Wet will be taken into protective custody until the end of the trial.
From BBC • Aug. 7, 2025
Hernandez’s 2-year-old child recovered from the ordeal and has since been placed in protective custody, according to the police report.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2025
Half of the inmates in the Box, as it turned out—all thirty on the upper floor—were not disciplinary cases but men under protective custody, of which there were two kinds.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
