detention

«detention» in Mova's school dictionary: A punishment at school where a pupil must stay in after… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (detention, detentions)

meaning for a pupil

1) A punishment at school where a pupil must stay in after lessons or at break time. tree →

2) Being kept somewhere by police or other officials so you cannot leave. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school life, a detention is given for bad behaviour, being late or not doing homework; it is part of the rules and consequences. In stories, a character may get a detention and miss something fun. Phrases: «get a detention», «be in detention», «after-school detention», «lunchtime detention».

examples

• Tom got a detention for being rude to the teacher. tree →
• I had to stay in detention at lunchtime. tree →
• If you forget your homework three times, you get a detention. tree →
• Detention lasted half an hour after school. tree →
• She spent detention writing a sorry letter. tree →
• The suspect was held in detention by the police. tree →

note

Countable for the school punishment: «a detention», «two detentions». Related verb: detain (keep someone back). Do not confuse with «attention».

In the corpora

• A detention or lost play time is a consequence, and you think about what to do differently.
• At school, a child who hits, even to hit back, can get a detention or be sent home.
• Walking away and lying is a choice.» He got a detention — for the lie, not the window.
• They'd been behind the bike shed, and laughed about the detention later.
• You've still got detention.» Next day she is friendly to him in the corridor.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «detention» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.