detention house
- noun
- /dɪˈtɛnʃən haʊs/
- UK
:
casa de detención
- After his arrest, the boy was sent to a detention house until his court date.
Examples
-
Many detention houses offer educational programs to help rehabilitate young offenders.
-
The juvenile court oversees all matters involving the detention house in the county.
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The detention house is nearby.
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Don't send him to a detention house!
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After his arrest, the boy was sent to a detention house until his court date.
-
Many detention houses offer educational programs to help rehabilitate young offenders.
-
The juvenile court oversees all matters involving the detention house in the county.
Synonyms
15
6.3
A locked place where young people who break the law are kept
1
6.5
A place where young people who have broken the law stay temporarily under court supervision
1
7.7
A place where young people who broke the law are kept by the court for a short time
1
6.2
A place where young people who broke the law stay temporarily under court care
How Restrictive
15
6.3
- UK
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an institution where people are held in custody' is directly derivable from combining 'detention' (being kept in custody) with 'house' (a building), so the compound denotes a building for detention. Although 'house' is often defined as a family dwelling, English commonly uses 'house' to mean a type of building or institution (e.g. 'workhouse', 'safe house'), and this compositional pattern exists cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand the MWE.
Etymology
Detention house comes from the words detention ('to hold') and house (a building). It creates the simple image of a building where young people are kept for a short time, so today it means a place where young people who broke the law stay until their court date.