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

“There’s a certain amount of shame about being put in a prison camp,” Furutani said.

From Los Angeles Times

Under dictator Joseph Stalin, the prison camps, or Gulag, were full of victims who had been snitched on by their fellow citizens.

From BBC

Dmitry Luksha built up muscles breaking rocks in a Belarusian prison camp, put to work alongside men convicted of murder and drug smuggling.

From BBC

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

Conditions in his prison camp, IK 17, were tough, locked up with "child rapists and murderers" as he once put it.

From BBC

Related Words

• concentration camp
• gulag
• internment camp