concentration camp

Definition

A camp where troops are assembled, prior to combat or transport.

Etymology

From concentration + camp. In later use partly after German Konzentrationslager, itself a calque of the English term.

Example Sentences

• "A concentration camp is a place, near the scene of intended operations or near an embarkation point, where troops are assembled for immediate use against the enemy or for transport to an over-sea theater of operations."
• "1930, Winston S. Churchill, My Early Life, Chapter XIV The 21st Lancers… …journey forward by nine days' march to the advanced concentration camp just north of the Shabluka Cataract."
• "All Cubans (men, women, and children) were ordered to move into garrisoned Spanish towns or concentration camps."