A cell in a police station or courthouse in which a prisoner is held temporarily, pending charge, trial or sentencing(noun)
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Use "holding cell" in a sentence
"The accused murderer stood in the holding cell of the old Calaboose, the same jail the French and Spanish had used here in New Orleans, her arms folded, her face half hidden in shadow."
"Upon arrest, I will fasten the cuffs tight enough to cause gangrene, see to it that you are body-searched by a sadist, and make sure you are tossed in a holding cell with half a dozen charter members of the Aryan Brotherhood. ""
"Tom and I shake Dante’s hand, which is still quivering; then the sheriffs put him back in handcuffs and lead him to the steel-cage elevator that will take him to the holding cell in the basement."