penal colony
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was transferred to a less harsh penal colony in Russia's Udmurtia region in 2024.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
Despite the many Aboriginal communities, the British deemed the place terra nullius—no one’s land—and established a penal colony, bringing diseases that drastically reduced the indigenous population.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026
Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank.
From Barron's • Nov. 18, 2025
Six months into that sentence, representatives from the Russian military came to the penal colony and told the convicts they had an opportunity to turn a new page in their lives.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025
He was one generation removed from a slave ship, living in a country best described as an African penal colony, and he was a free man, with every benefit of education.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
