concentration camp

noun

: a place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard
used especially in reference to camps created by the Nazis in World War II for the internment and persecution of Jews and other prisoners
The Nazi soldiers hauled [Mordechai] Strigler off to a concentration camp, and carved swastikas into his cheeks and forehead with a razor blade. Over the next five years, he was sent from one concentration camp or slave-labor camp to another.David Remnick
She ended up dying in a concentration camp, just a few months before she would have been liberated.Marilyn Reynolds
The V2 killed thousands of British civilians while 20,000 concentration camp inmates died as slave labourers during its manufacture in the closing stages of the second world war.Anna Tomforde et al.
see also death camp

Examples of concentration camp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Marcy Thompson: Not long after being transported to Theresienstadt, Margarethe was sent to Treblinka, a concentration camp. Marcy Thompson, Scientific American, 23 Jan. 2025 While some managed to flee, many were deported and killed in concentration camps. Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2025 In the movie, a Jewish bookstore owner uses his wit and humor to hide the terrible reality of a Nazi concentration camp from his son. Ari Daniel, NPR, 12 Jan. 2025 Weiser immigrated to the United States after his mother and grandmother were liberated from a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Alayna Alvarez, Axios, 2 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for concentration camp 

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of concentration camp was in 1901

Dictionary Entries Near concentration camp

Cite this Entry

“Concentration camp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concentration%20camp. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

concentration camp

noun
: a camp where persons (as prisoners of war, political prisoners, or refugees) are detained

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