1
as in imprisonment
the state of being held in lawful custody
he's been in detention since the arrest
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in delay
an instance or period of being prevented from going about one's business
the detention at the airport security checkpoint was brief, but because he was running late, it caused him to miss his flight
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of detention
The money would be spent on an unprecedented expansion of law enforcement staffing, detention facilities, immigration courts and transportation capacity to move detainees.
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Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 4 Nov. 2024
Harris supports provisions in the border bill that would add more immigration detention beds, bringing the current total from 34,000 beds to about 50,000 beds.
—Brian Bennett, TIME, 3 Nov. 2024
That docket is a list of people, with and without criminal convictions, who are not currently held in immigration detention.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2024
In his 1975 book, Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault wrote about the rise of recordkeeping in 18th- and 19th-century Europe, namely the government practice of maintaining detailed legal accounts of surveillance and detention.
—John Kaag, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for detention 
Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 4 Nov. 2024
Harris supports provisions in the border bill that would add more immigration detention beds, bringing the current total from 34,000 beds to about 50,000 beds.
—Brian Bennett, TIME, 3 Nov. 2024
That docket is a list of people, with and without criminal convictions, who are not currently held in immigration detention.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2024
In his 1975 book, Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault wrote about the rise of recordkeeping in 18th- and 19th-century Europe, namely the government practice of maintaining detailed legal accounts of surveillance and detention.
—John Kaag, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for detention
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detention
Noun
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PCMag spoke to one reservation holder who cancelled their preorder after learning of the launch delay, unwilling to further delay their car purchase.Emily Dreibelbis Forlini, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
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Osborne said the delay at the Etris Community Center was roughly an hour, and voters were forced to wait outside until law enforcement officers cleared the building.Chris Boyette, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Breslin ran on a platform focused on reducing violent crime and reducing incarceration for nonviolent offenders with substance abuse and mental health issues.Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, 5 Nov. 2024
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Meanwhile, advocates focused on reducing mass incarceration and addressing racial disparities in the judicial system pushed states to begin decriminalizing marijuana and revising the sentences for people serving time for it.Marin Cogan, Vox, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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About two dozen voting locations in Pima County saw wait times of more than 20 minutes.Sasha Hupka, The Arizona Republic, 6 Nov. 2024
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Within the first hour of voting, several voters reported wait times between 30 to 45 minutes.Madison Lammert, Journal Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near detention
Cite this Entry
“Detention.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detention. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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