Definition of "detention" []

• The act of detaining. (noun)
• The state or a period of being detained, especially: (noun)
• A period of temporary custody while awaiting trial. (noun)
• A period of confinement to a detention home. (noun)
• A form of punishment by which a student is made to stay after regular school hours. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Government need only allege an individual kept in detention, is an Unprivileged Enemy Belligerent suspected of; having engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners; or has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States; its coalition partners; or against U.S. civilians."
• "In its definitions section, the order specifies that the term detention facilities does not include "facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis.""
• "On August 3, 1992, the day after Roy Gutman's first, highly graphic story on Omarska appeared in Newsday, the State Department deputy spokesman, Richard Boucher, faced reporters and announced that administration officials had not only been aware "that the Serbian forces are maintaining what they call detention centers" but that "abuses and torture and killings [were] taking place.""