death camp

US/dɛθ kæmp/US[dɛθ kʰɛəːmp]

noun

A camp destined to cause the death of its inmates.

Meanings

noundeath camp (plural death camps)

plural death camps

  1. A camp destined to cause the death of its inmates.
    1. Such a camp built during the Holocaust by the Nazis to kill mainly Jews, generally by means of gassing.
  2. A prison camp in which a large number of prisoners die, ascribed to various reasons such as starvation, disease, brutality, and neglect, but not necessarily thought to be intentional.

    In America's death camps, 1,500,000 babies annually are put to death in their mother's womb. The war being waged on the womb front killed more children than soldiers in the history of warfare.

    2007, Steve Bates, Bible Crusade, page 79
    2 more examples

    Included in this figure, since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, are over 250,000 boat people and 250,000 other civilians who were either ruthlessly murdered outright or who perished in communist death camps set up to "re-educate" non-communists.

    2004, Jeffrey F. Addicott, Terrorism Law: The Rule of Law and the War on Terror, 2nd edition, page 117

    Three years after Stalin's death, with ghostly figures returning to Moscow and Leningrad from Stalin's death camps, the leaders in the Kremlin agreed that Stalin's ghost had to be laid to rest if they were to get on with the reforms that would allow them to stay in power.

    2007, John P. C. Matthews, Explosion: The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, page 618

Synonyms & antonyms

Translations

Arabic مُعَسْكَر إِبَادَة, مُعَسْكَر مَوْت
  • مُعَسْكَر إِبَادَة (muʕaskar ʔibāda)facility
  • مُعَسْكَر مَوْت (muʕaskar mawt)facility
Bulgarian ла́гер на смъртта́
  • ла́гер на смъртта́ (láger na smărttá)facility
Catalan camp d'extermini
  • camp d'exterminifacility
Chinese Mandarin 滅絕營 /灭绝营
  • 滅絕營 /灭绝营 (mièjuéyíng)facility
Czech tábor smrti
  • tábor smrtifacility
Danish dødslejr, udryddelseslejr
  • dødslejrfacility
  • udryddelseslejrfacility
Dutch vernietigingskamp
  • vernietigingskampfacility
Finnish tuhoamisleiri, kuolemanleiri
  • tuhoamisleirifacility
  • kuolemanleirifacility
French camp d'extermination, camp de la mort
  • camp d'exterminationfacility
  • camp de la mortfacility
German Vernichtungslager, Todeslager
  • Vernichtungslagerfacility
  • Todeslagerfacility
Greek στρατόπεδο εξόντωσης
  • στρατόπεδο εξόντωσης (stratópedo exóntosis)facility
Hebrew מַחֲנֵה הַשְׁמָדָה, מחנה מוות \ מַחֲנֵה מָוֶת
  • מַחֲנֵה הַשְׁמָדָה (makhané hashmadá)facility
  • מחנה מוות \ מַחֲנֵה מָוֶת (makhané mávet)facility
Hungarian haláltábor
  • haláltáborfacility
Icelandic útrýmingarbúðir
  • útrýmingarbúðirfacility
Irish campa an bháis, campa géibhinn
  • campa an bháisfacility
  • campa géibhinnfacility
Italian campo di sterminio
  • campo di sterminiofacility
Japanese 絶滅収容所
  • 絶滅収容所 (zetsumetsu shūyōsho)facility
Korean 절멸수용소
  • 절멸수용소 (jeolmyeolsuyongso)facility
Lithuanian naikinimo stovykla
  • naikinimo stovyklafacility
Malay kem penghapusan
  • kem penghapusanfacility
Norwegian Bokmål dødsleir, tilintetgjørelsesleir
  • dødsleirfacility
  • tilintetgjørelsesleirfacility
Polish obóz zagłady, obóz śmierci
  • obóz zagładyfacility
  • obóz śmiercifacility
Portuguese campo de extermínio
  • campo de extermíniofacility
Romanian lagăr de exterminare
  • lagăr de exterminarefacility
Russian ла́герь сме́рти
  • ла́герь сме́рти (lágerʹ smérti)facility
Slovak tábor smrti
  • tábor smrtifacility
Spanish campo de exterminio
  • campo de exterminiofacility
Swedish förintelseläger
  • förintelselägerfacility
Thai ค่ายมรณะ
  • ค่ายมรณะfacility
Turkish imha kampı
  • imha kampıfacility
Ukrainian та́бір сме́рті
  • та́бір сме́рті (tábir smérti)facility
Yiddish אומברענג־לאַגער
  • אומברענג־לאַגער (umbreng-lager)facility
Cite this entry
APA

death camp. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20camp

MLA

“death camp.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20camp. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “death camp,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/death%20camp.

Source: death camp on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.