penal colony
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was transferred to a less harsh penal colony in Russia's Udmurtia region in 2024.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
Despite the many Aboriginal communities, the British deemed the place terra nullius—no one’s land—and established a penal colony, bringing diseases that drastically reduced the indigenous population.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026
Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank.
From Barron's • Nov. 18, 2025
Kurashov knew little about it, he said, but he thought anything was better than five more years in the penal colony or being turned out into the streets at the end of his sentence.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2025
He was one generation removed from a slave ship, living in a country best described as an African penal colony, and he was a free man, with every benefit of education.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
