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Showing results for protective custody. Search instead for protective instincts.
Definitions

protective custody

NOUN
arrest
Synonyms
STRONGEST
capture detention imprisonment incarceration jailing
STRONG
accommodation apprehension appropriation bag bust captivity collar commitment confinement constraint crimp drop fall gaff glom grab heat hook mitt nab nail nick nip pickle pinch pull restraining sequestering snare sweep
WEAK
booby trap pick up preventive custody pull in run-in
Antonyms
STRONGEST
freedom release
STRONG
liberation refusal rise
WEAK
activation encouragement letting go
NOUN
house arrest
Synonyms
WEAK
close arrest preventive custody purdah

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.

Now he’d be sent to the hospital, stitched up, placed in protective custody, and sent to another prison.

From Slate • Oct. 8, 2025

The ministry has since come under fire because officials questioned Jossimar Cabrera at the airport in Lima and took the children into protective custody, but didn’t detain him, according to several Peruvian media sources.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2025

Mr De Wet will be taken into protective custody until the end of the trial.

From BBC • Aug. 7, 2025

Shift duty officers with no security experience were being asked to make decisions in the middle of the night about whether to put detainees who felt threatened in protective custody.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2025

Helmuth tells them what Hugo had said, that Brother Worbs was denounced by someone who heard him criticize the Nazis, and now he was taken into protective custody.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti