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prison farm

prison farm

1 6.8
A place in the countryside where people who broke the law live and work on farms
  • noun
translation icon : granja penitenciaria
  • Prison farms, if done at minimal training costs, may very well be the money-saving methods all prisons should use in order to drastically reduce their food service costs. Such farms impart more nutritious food and improved morale for prisoners and guards alike, as well as grant budget relief.

Examples

  • The Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola is an 18,000-acre prison farm, bordered by pine forests and the Mississippi River.

  • I tried it once at the prison farm where they sent me for good behavior.

  • Model prisoner for 15 years, the authorities moved him from a high security prison, to a prison farm.

  • Currently, compost is used on the prison farm and given to employees.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The finished product is used on the prison farm and given to employees, and eventually will be bagged and sold.

    Academic text (1999)
  • As in other southern states, the prison farm became the ideal successor to convict leasing.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Arkansas bought old plantations and turned them into prison farms.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Meant to discipline and reform prisoners through hard labor as an enactment of penance, prison farms date back to the beginnings of America's penitentiaries.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Many inmates work on the prison farm, helping to grow vegetables for the local community.

  • Each day, the prisoners on the prison farm are tasked with maintaining the fields and caring for the livestock.

Synonyms

penitentiary
vsprison farm
  • US
73 7.9

A prison for people found guilty of serious crimes

places more weight on using trusted prisoners in agricultural jobs
jailhouse
vsprison farm
42 4.1

A building where police keep people who are waiting for trial or serving a sentence

instead focuses on rural long term work by trusted prisoners, not short detention
state prison
vsprison farm
  • US
27 4.3

A prison run by a state government for people found guilty of serious crimes

adds emphasis on rural work employment and trusted prisoners rather than mere custody
prison camp
vsprison farm
26 5.3

A camp where guards keep people against their will, often during war

focuses on rural employment and trusted prisoner labor rather than mere detention
labor camp
vsprison farm
  • US
19 7.5

A prison where people are forced to work, often for political reasons

is about supervised, sometimes voluntary agricultural work by trusted prisoners
correctional facility
vsprison farm
  • Formal
10 4.2

A building like a prison where people are kept as punishment and given training

focuses on trusted prisoners doing rural agricultural or government work
work camp
vsprison farm
6 7.0

A camp where prisoners must do hard physical work

uses trusted prisoners more as employed workers rather than forced laborers
correctional institution
vsprison farm
  • Formal
2 4.9

A place where people who broke the law are kept as punishment or while they wait for trial

focuses instead on employing trusted prisoners in agricultural or project roles
correctional center
vsprison farm
  • Formal
1 4.1

A place where people found guilty of crimes are kept and given help to change their behaviour

uses trusted prisoners in rural work projects rather than only therapy

Surface Forms

prison farm singular
prison farms plural

Morphology

prison + farm

The meaning is directly and predictably built from 'prison' (a correctional institution) + 'farm' (an agricultural place): a farm associated with or operated by a prison where inmates work. This straightforward noun–noun composition follows common compounding patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the sense.

Etymology

Prison farm comes from places where people lived in a prison but spent their days working on a real farm, planting crops and caring for animals. So, prison farm means a prison where prisoners 'work' on farms or similar projects to learn skills and help run the place.