concentration camp
noun
Forms concentration camps
- noun A camp where troops are assembled, prior to combat or transport.
- noun A camp where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners, prisoners of war, refugees etc., are detained for the purpose of confining them in one place, typically with inadequate or inhumane facilities.
- noun (figuratively) A situation of overcrowding and extremely harsh conditions. “The UN inspector stated that the Australian government's migrant detention facilities were in effect concentration camps.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From concentration + camp. In later use partly after German Konzentrationslager, itself a calque of the English term.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “concentration camp”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details