CEFR C1

penitentiary

noun

Meaning

penitentiary means a state or federal prison for convicted felons; (broadly) a prison. It can have more than one sense, so use the alternate meanings and examples to choose the meaning that matches your sentence.

Examples

The article uses penitentiary to mean a state or federal prison for convicted felons; (broadly) a prison.
The teacher asked students to find penitentiary in the reading.

Synonyms: pen

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penitentiary (C1)

noun

Pronunciation: /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/

Definition

Examples

The article uses penitentiary to mean a state or federal prison for convicted felons; (broadly) a prison.
The teacher asked students to find penitentiary in the reading.
Check the words around penitentiary to choose the right meaning.

How to Use penitentiary

a/the penitentiary (noun pattern): Use an article when the noun is countable in context. — "The article mentioned a penitentiary."
penitentiary in context (usage pattern): Use surrounding words to choose the correct sense. — "We checked penitentiary in context before translating it."

Synonyms of penitentiary

Words with a similar meaning to penitentiary:

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