gulags

Noun

gulag (plural gulags)

1. (historical) Also GULAG: the system of all Soviet labour camps and prisons in use, especially during the Stalinist period (1930s–1950s).
   • One important difference between the GULAG system and the Nazi concentration camps was that a person sentenced to five years of hard labor in a Soviet labor camp could expect, assuming he or she survived, to be released at the end of the sentence.[2006?], David Hosford, Pamela Kachurin, Thomas Lamont, “Day 1 Content Essay: The Establishment and Scope of the GULAG System”, in GULAG: Soviet Prison Camps and Their Legacy […], [U.S.A.]: National...
2. (broadly) A prison camp, especially one used to hold political prisoners.
   • Nevertheless, the Trump administration has continued to insist that Abrego Garcia is a dangerous gang member in order to justify sending him to an overseas Gulag that has been accused of torturing inmates.2025 April 10, Adam Serwer, “The Confrontation Between Trump and the Supreme Court Has Arrived”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2025
3. (also, broadly, figuratively) A place where, or political system in which, people with dissident views are routinely oppressed.

See all 5 meanings of gulag