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# custody

«custody» in Mova's school dictionary: **Being kept by the police or in prison, usually while…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (custody)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Being kept by the police or in prison, usually while waiting to go to court: the suspect was taken into custody. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#m1)

2) The legal right and duty to look after a child, especially after parents separate: his mum has custody. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#m2)

3) (formal) Care and keeping of something valuable: the museum has custody of the paintings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In news and crime stories the police take a suspect "into custody". In family life, after a divorce a court may decide which parent has custody, or both share it (joint custody). Phrases: in custody, take into custody, police custody, joint custody, safe custody.

### examples

- The police took the thief into custody. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x1)
- He is being held in custody until the trial. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x2)
- After the divorce, her parents share joint custody. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x3)
- Her dad has custody of the children at weekends. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x4)
- (formal) The jewels were kept in safe custody at the bank. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x5)
- The suspect escaped from custody but was caught again. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x6)
- A man was arrested for having caused his death, and held in custody till a gallows was erected. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/#x7)

### note

Uncountable. The person who keeps something is the custodian. "In custody" (with police) is different from "in care" (looked after by social services). Sensitive topic: some children's parents live apart.

### In the corpora

- ["Protective custody" means keeping a prisoner alone for their own safety.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/27-crime-prison-and-police/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «custody» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/custody/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.