This week’s theme
Toponyms

This week’s words
Queenborough mayor
borstal
Poplarism
Shrewsbury clock
Scarborough warning

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(BOHR-stuhl)

MEANING:

noun: A reformatory for young offenders.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Borstal, a village in Kent, UK, where such an institution was first set up. Earliest documented use: 1907.

USAGE:

“Susan Smith: I was 13 when I got pregnant in 1967, and my boyfriend was 14. ... I was sentenced to two years’ ‘supervision’ and my boyfriend to six months in borstal.”
Alison Roberts; Forced Adoption; Daily Mail (London, UK); Apr 17, 2015.

“Topsy was a mixed blessing. As a result of coming from a dog borstal, she was a bit troubled and would take any opportunity to tear things up.”
Russel Brand; My Booky Wook; Hodder & Stoughton; 2007.

See more usage examples of borstal in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: