Meaning & use
holding cell
A small, secure room where people are temporarily kept, usually by police, before being processed or released.
See it in a sentence
The suspect waited in a holding cell for several hours before his lawyer arrived.
Officers moved the two men into separate holding cells to keep them from talking.
A note on using this word
A holding cell is meant for short, temporary detention, unlike a prison cell, which houses someone for a longer sentence.
Words with a similar meaning
lockupjail cell
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