detentionde‧ten‧tion /dɪˈtenʃən/ ●○○ noun 
Willis was held in detention for five years.2[countable, uncountable] a punishment in which children who have behaved badly are forced to stay at school for a short time after the others have gone homein detention She was always getting put in detention.
WORD ORIGINdetention
Origin:
1400-1500 Latin detentio, from detentus, past participle of detinere; ➔ DETAINEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A dissident, recently released from detention, gave a press conference in the capital today.
- About a dozen people remain in detention without trial.
- By the 1920s the average period of detention for new immigrants lasted two weeks.
- Cases of detention without trial were common in the last century.
- He was in and out of juvenile detention for drugs charges as a teenager.
- Marik, who had been held in detention for over a year, was eventually found not guilty.
- Mrs Davis was released from detention yesterday and all charges have been dropped.
- Ormerod, age 19, was sentenced to nine months' detention for possessing and supplying cannabis.
- Sanchez has been released without charge after five days' detention.
- There was another riot at the men's detention center yesterday.
- They were taken into detention two weeks ago and still are not allowed visitors.
- Apart from the clearly implied step toward preventive detention, it was almost impossible not to detect an underlying racism.
- Both psychiatrists said the patient did not satisfy the conditions necessary for continued detention under the Mental Health Act.
- Further detention can only be authorised in the case of a person who is suspected of having committed a serious arrestable offence.
- His detention has provoked the anger of his supporters, who include the radical state senator Tom Hayden.
- Lines scoured on flesh in the penal settlement, or detention beyond the Styx.
- Many of those refused asylum had faced arrest, detention and torture upon their return to Sri Lanka, according to the report.
- When they were rowdy and rude, I kept whole classes for detention.
Longman Language Activatorwhen you are forced to stay somewhere
if someone who the police think is guilty of a crime is in custody , they are kept in prison until it is time for them to be judged in a court: · Parry was in custody for a month before being released.be in police custody (=in a police station): · The activist died under suspicious circumstances while he was in police custody.be remanded in custody (=be sent back to prison from a court until your trial): · Three men and a woman have been remanded in custody on fraud charges.
if someone is under arrest , the police are keeping them guarded because they think they are guilty of a crime: · He's under arrest and may only be seen by his lawyer.be under house arrest (=not be allowed to leave your home): · The opposition leader has been under house arrest for the past few months.
when someone is being forced to stay in a place where they do not want to be - use this when this situation is illegal or wrong: · In his autobiography, Mandela describes his life during captivity.in captivity: · The hostages are now entering their fourth week in captivity.
when someone is being kept as a prisoner, especially as a punishment for a crime: · Johnson was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for causing a riot.· The offence is punishable by either a fine or imprisonment.life imprisonment (=for the rest of someone's life): · Garrison faces life imprisonment for his role in the killings.
when someone is being kept somewhere by the police, usually because they think that person has done something illegal and they want to ask them questions: · By the 1920s the average period of detention for new immigrants lasted two weeks.· A dissident, recently released from detention, gave a press conference in the capital today.in detention: · About a dozen people remain in detention without trial.take somebody into detention: · They were taken into detention two weeks ago and still are not allowed visitors.detention center (=a place where someone is kept by the police): · There was another riot at the men's detention center yesterday.juvenile detention (=a place that is like a prison for young people) American: · He was in and out of juvenile detention for drugs charges as a teenager.
when someone is being kept in a room, prison etc: · He was sentenced to 5 months of home confinement for the crime.solitary confinement (=the state of being kept completely alone): · Prisoners are punished by being put in solitary confinement.
when someone is kept in a place they do not want to be in · In his book, he describes what life was like during his long captivity.in captivity · The industrialist, who was captured on November 24th, was freed after 84 days in captivity.be held/kept in captivity · Folkes says that he was held in captivity for over a year.
the state of being kept as a prisoner, especially as punishment for a crime: · Johnson was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for causing a riot.life imprisonment: · Many women believe that the punishment for rape should be life imprisonment.
especially British when someone is kept in a place such as a prison because they may have done something illegal: · Cases of detention without trial were common in the last century.· Ormerod, aged 19, was sentenced to nine months' detention for possessing and supplying cannabis.be held/kept in detention: · Marik, who had been held in detention for over a year, was eventually found not guilty.release somebody from detention: · Mrs Davis was released from detention yesterday and all charges have been dropped.
WORD SETSborstal, nouncell, nounchain, nounchain gang, nounconcentration camp, nounconcurrent, adjectiveconfinement, nounconvict, nouncorrectional, adjectivecustodial sentence, nouncustody, noundeath row, noundetainee, noundetention, noundetention centre, noundrunk tank, noundungeon, nounfetter, verbfetters, noungaol, gaoler, noungovernor, nounguard, verbgulag, nounhandcuff, verbhandcuffs, nounincarcerate, verbinmate, nouninside, adverbintern, verbinternee, nouninternment, nounjailbreak, nounlabour camp, nounlifer, nounmanacle, nounold lag, nounopen prison, nounoubliette, nounparole, nounparole, verbpen, nounpenal, adjectivepenitentiary, nounpillory, nounpokey, nounpolitical prisoner, nounporridge, nounpreventive detention, nounprison, nounprison camp, nounprisoner, nounprisoner of conscience, nounprisoner of war, nounprison visitor, nounreformatory, nounremand home, nounremission, nounserve, verbshackle, nounshackle, verbsolitary, nounsolitary confinement, nounstretch, nounthumbscrew, nounwarden, nounwarder, nounyardbird, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Willis was held in detention for five years. She was always getting put in detention.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Willis was held in detention for five years. She was always getting put in detention.· She was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· There were a further 303 prisoners held under administrative detention, without trial.· They would instead be placed in administrative detention in the Qeziot detention centre in the Negev.· Amnesty International opposes the detention without trial of all political detainees, including administrative detention.· Olivier Nwaha Binya'a appears to be held in indefinite administrative detention without any opportunity to challenge his imprisonment.· Many are held for months or years in administrative or pretrial detention, usually incommunicado.
· The case also highlights the widespread practice of arbitrary detention that affects about 2 million people each year.
· Her order of preventive detention caused consternation among lawyers over a possible breach of civil liberties.· Apart from the clearly implied step toward preventive detention, it was almost impossible not to detect an underlying racism.
NOUN· More than 13,000 boat people in three Hong Kong detention camps demonstrated against forced repatriation on Nov. 11-12.
· Police take violators to a special detention center and telephone their homes.· Women are more likely to end up in county jails because INSrun detention centers sometimes can not handle females.· The main detention center was designed to hold 150 people, but sometimes houses 600.· He was in and out of juvenile detention centers for four years on weapons and drug charges and other violations.· High Commissioner for Refugees visit the detention center twice a week to assess those requests.
· Read in studio A new detention centre for immigrants has taken delivery of its first inmates, despite protests from local people.· The judge gave Abraham a seven-year sentence in a juvenile detention centre, after which he will be released.· So they put me in a detention centre for six months.· Then again you may be taken from the detention centre to Pentonville Prison and locked up there if you complain.· Read in studio Campaigners against a new detention centre for the immigration service have held a torchlight protest.· It's planned to turn part of the site into a detention centre for the immigration service.· Campsfield will house 200 people making it the biggest detention centre for immigrants in the country.· They want to prevent the opening of a new detention centre at Campsfield House in Kidlington.
· The bodies of 18 had been recovered and 366 had been traced, most of them to detention centres for rebels.· Brutal conditions have been unearthed in a series of youth detention centres around the country.· The resolution refers specifically to detention centres and humanitarian aid.· Under these provisions local authorities are expected to provide Intermediate Treatment, which is designed to replace attendance and detention centres.· It was confirmed last night that the idea of privately-run detention centres was being pursued within the Home Office.· During 1975 and 1976 the detention centres would often get crowded.· Reporters have not been allowed access to Chi Ma Wan or any of the other detention centres.· Her requests to inspect several detention centres where troops were alleged to have tortured prisoners were also ignored.
· Normally, Campbell said, two detention officers oversee such transfers.
VERB· Up to 1,000 asylum seekers were being held in detention at any one time, the report said.· Olivier Nwaha Binya'a appears to be held in indefinite administrative detention without any opportunity to challenge his imprisonment.· Detained Numbers of refugees seeking asylum in the United Kingdom are held in detention for long periods following their arrival.
· So they put me in a detention centre for six months.· They put the detention basin in the golf course.· When I came up they put us in the detention room on the house for pregnant women.
· An estimated 200 people were to be released from detention immediately.· He appealed against the verdict, and on July 16 was released from detention pending his appeal.
· At least one political detainee, Corporal Thomas Benefo, remains in detention without charge or trial.· Medina remains in federal detention in New York, while his attorney tries to arrange his bond.· Most remain in detention without charge or trial.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[uncountable] the state of being kept in prisonin detention- A forced labour camp, they call it.
- All the Luftwaffe crews who've ended up in Ireland have been put in prison camps.
- Even so there remain causes for concern in the Labour camp.
- I was in a friendly country and was less effectively guarded than I ever would be in a prison camp.
- More than 13,000 boat people in three Hong Kong detention camps demonstrated against forced repatriation on Nov. 11-12.
- Of these, 55,000 were to be punished either by receiving prison sentences or by being sent to labour camps.
- The men were unloaded in the reception area at Long Kesh Detention Camp and placed in cubicles.
- Then he was chosen, with another senior officer, to run the Athi River Detention Camp.
Willis was held in detention for five years.2[countable, uncountable] a punishment in which children who have behaved badly are forced to stay at school for a short time after the others have gone homein detention She was always getting put in detention.