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View synonyms for custody

custody

[ kuhs-tuh-dee ]

noun

, plural cus·to·dies.
  1. keeping; guardianship; care.

    Synonyms: watch, charge, safekeeping

  2. the keeping or charge of officers of the law:

    The car was held in the custody of the police.

  3. imprisonment; legal restraint:

    He was taken into custody.

  4. Also called child custody. Law. the right of determining the residence, protection, care, and education of a minor child or children, especially in a divorce or separation. Compare joint custody, sole custody.


custody

/ ˈkʌstədɪ; kʌˈstəʊdɪəl /

noun

  1. the act of keeping safe or guarding, esp the right of guardianship of a minor
  2. the state of being held by the police; arrest (esp in the phrases in custody, take into custody )


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Derived Forms

  • custodial, adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of custody1

1400–50; late Middle English custodye < Latin custōdia “a watching, watchman,” equivalent to custōd- (stem of custōs ) “keeper” + -ia -y 3

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Word History and Origins

Origin of custody1

C15: from Latin custōdia, from custōs guard, defender

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Synonym Study

Custody, keeping, possession imply a guardianship or care for something. Custody denotes a strict keeping, as by a formally authorized and responsible guardian or keeper: in the custody of the sheriff. Keeping denotes having in one's care or charge, as for guarding or preservation: I left the package in my mother's keeping. Possession means holding, ownership, or mastery: Leave it in possession of its owner.

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Example Sentences

Pauline Binam, a 30-year-old former detainee at Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, had been in custody for about two years when she started having irregular menstrual bleeding.

From Vox

In the spring of 2015, the death of Freddie Gray, 25, from injuries sustained in police custody brought demonstrators into the streets of Baltimore.

Hundreds of protesters gathered, but many of them were immediately taken into custody.

By Simonis’s own estimation, the scientist spent around eight hours in the agents’ custody.

Courts have also had trouble enforcing the orders and continuing to receive information from the government about migrants in its custody, she said.

If she got caught with a shank, they would up her custody level.

While Faal and Njie are in U.S. custody, the whereabouts of the other survivors is unknown.

Parents who want to transfer custody of a child to someone other than a relative must seek permission from a judge.

But until recently, there was no requirement for government agencies to report deaths in police custody.

During two years in Iranian custody, Abdolhamid provided crucial details of how Jundullah operated.

Were you ever arrested, having in your custody another man's cash, and would rather go to gaol, than break it?

The 'cage' was simply an arrangement for 'straiter custody,' though but rarely judged necessary in the case of ladies.

But if an officer touches you and takes you into custody there is an arrest even though you run away afterward.

And he went, and defeated the army of Demetrius: and took him, and brought him to Arsaces, and he put him into custody.

This evening my wife gives me all my linen, which I have put up, and intend to keep it now in my own custody.

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